A 53-year-old man fell to death from a height of around 100 feet barely 53 seconds after he had taken to parasailing on CODISSIA Grounds here on Sunday morning, allegedly because the organisers of the adventure sport had failed to fasten his belt to his paragliding gears. The incident took place close to the Coimbatore airport.
The victim, Malleswara Rao of KTVR Residency at Duraisamy Layout in Peelamedu, who deals in foundry materials, was the second person to take to parasailing shortly before noon. His paragliding gear was fastened to a mini-load van and the vehicle pulled him along in a bid to lift him in the air.
A video recorded by an onlooker showed that within 15 seconds of Mr Rao being lifted up in the air, two persons on the ground were wondering aloud why his belt was not fastened to the gear.
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Twenty-five seconds later, as Mr Rao struggled to cling to the rope with his hands, the crowd on the ground sensed something amiss and began running looking upwards desperately hoping to catch him.
In the 53 second of his adventure, Mr. Rao fell to the ground and suffered multiple injuries. He was rushed to a private hospital nearby in the same mini-load van.
After examining Mr Rao, doctors declared him brought dead. A doctor said the victim had sustained fractures on his skull, spine, hip, knee and ribs. His wife, Padmasri, and acquaintances who had gathered at the hospital were inconsolable. While Mr Rao’s daughter Manasa is in Hyderabad, his son Suryateja (25) works in Bengaluru.
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Later, acting on a complaint from Padmashri in which she has named two organisers of the event, the police registered a case against them under Section 304(A) of the Indian Penal Code.
Onlookers, participants shocked
Many persons helplessly watched Malleswara Rao fatally crash land while parasailing at the CODISSIA Ground in Coimbatore on Sunday and were left horrified as he collapsed on the ground.
Among those who witnessed the incident were N.A. Sujatha (31) and her husband R. Arun (35). “In fact it could have been one among us who could have fallen,” Ms.Sujatha said as the couple was given the tickets for parasailing. It was a blessing in disguise for them as organisers asked them to wait for sometime as a few others had already booked for parasailing.
The event started around 11.30 a.m. when a man successfully completed parasailing despite heavy winds. Mr. Rao was the second to gear-up. Ms. Sujatha said that Mr. Rao was dragged by the wind in his first attempt and stopped after the parachute knocked down a few two-wheelers parked there. In the second attempt, he had a fatal fall in less than a minute after he was lifted in the air.
Mr. Arun by hindsight felt that the place was not conducive for parasailing. He recalled a better parasailing experience at Mettupalayam a couple of years ago. But here there was not even an ambulance to give first aid to the victim, he said.
“The victim was taken on a goods carrying mini-truck to the hospital, ” he said and added that participants would not know the safety levels and aspects of such adventure sports and it is up to the organisers or regulating authority to ensure that the safety aspects were complied with. There was neither a fire and rescue service vehicle nor an ambulance.
Director of the Coimbatore International Airport G. Prakash Reddy said that those making use of air space close to the airport even for lighting fireworks should inform the Airports Authority of India and get their guidance.
“For adventure sports on air they should obtain permission from the Director General of Civil Aviation, Delhi,” he said and doubted if this event had the required permission.
Second incident This is the second adventure sport enthusiast to die in action on air in western Tamil Nadu in recent years. On January 31, 2014, Ramya, a 26-year-old from Bengaluru, crash landed from a height of about 10,000 feet due to parachute malfunction at Omalur in Salem District.