Himachal: Three foreign paragliders rescued in Kullu
The paragliders, identified as Micheal of Australia, Gabriel Greg Collins of New Zealand and Rosie Darewood of the UK, took off from Bir Billing in Kangra district on Thursday
Three foreign paragliders stranded in the high-altitude mountains of Kullu district in Himachal Pradesh were rescued by using a chopper on Friday after a challenging rescue mission was launched.
The paragliders, identified as Micheal of Australia, Gabriel Greg Collins of New Zealand and Rosie Darewood of the UK, took off from Bir Billing in Kangra district on Thursday. Due to strong winds and some technical issues, they lost their height and got stuck on high-altitude ridges in Kullu. They were rescued using a helicopter.
Micheal was rescued from an altitude of 4,500 metre, Greg from 3,420 metre and Rosie from 3,270 metre. Besides Kullu administration, Billing Paragliding Association (BPA) was also involved in the rescue mission. Two of the pilots have been reported injured, among them Collins has suffered spine fracture.
After getting the information, the district administration has launched an intensive rescue operation, although adverse weather and terrain are complicating efforts. The rescue operation took place between Dinosaur peak and Fungni mata peak in Kullu district. While two paragliders were rescued from one location and the third one was stranded in another location.
Kullu SDM Vikas Shukla said, “After getting the information on Thursday evening, they constituted a rescue team of highly skilled professionals from Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (ABVIMAS) Manali. On Friday morning, they were stationed. Then one from the ABVIMAS team and an Israeli pilot rescued them one by one using a chopper. Initially, our plan was for our team to climb and rescue the gliders after reaching the highest point accessible by the helicopter. ”
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