A British paraglider has died in Spain after he reportedly became tangled in power lines.
The 63-year-old, who has not been publicly identified, was flying over Palau de Noguera in Lleida, Catalonia, on Wednesday afternoon when the accident took place.
Local firefighting teams, several fire engines and helicopters were called to the scene at around 1.20pm local time (12.20pm GMT) but couldn’t save the person.
A spokesperson from the regional government said: ‘The Generalitat’s firefighters received a call at 1.20pm yesterday a couple of paragliding accident within the Palau de Noguera area, within the municipality of Tremp.
‘Immediately, three fire crews from the Tremp and Sort fire stations were activated. They searched the world, situated the victim seriously injured, and provided initial medical attention until the 2 crews from the Emergency Medical Service (SEM) arrived.
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‘The regional Mossos d’Esquadra police were also mobilised.’
Police at the moment are investigating the circumstances across the death, which is being treated as an accident, sources claim.
Palau de Noguera, on the foothills of the Pyrenees mountain range, is usually used as a base camp for Àger – a village of just 637 inhabitants, popular with paragliders.
Last month, a paraglider narrowly escaped death after a plane ripped through her parachute above the Austrian Alps.
The 44-year-old paraglider, Sabrina, took off from Schmittenhohe mountain and was flying towards Piesendorf when the crash happened at around 1.15pm on May 23 – the day she was celebrating her birthday.
The Cessna aircraft which collided along with her parachute, meanwhile, had taken off from Zell am See Airport and was carrying out an alpine sightseeing tour when disaster struck.
The propeller reportedly caused severe damage to the paraglider cover, forcing Sabrina to deploy the reserve parachute.
Emergency crews described it as extremely fortunate that no one suffered serious injuries.
The paraglider later wrote on Instagram: ‘Pleased birthday to me. The day a Cessna 172 takes you out of the sky when you’re paragliding…
She added: ‘I actually still can’t consider that I’m sitting here typing this and that, other than a number of nasty bruises and a few general contusions, absolutely nothing happened.’
Sabrina sought medical treatment for minor injuries, with emergency personnel declaring it a ‘miracle’ she didn’t suffer a worse fate.
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