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.