Tourist dies while paragliding from an unauthorised site in Himachal Pradesh

A tourist died after sustaining serious injuries following a paragliding crash near Kangra district's Dharamshala city in Himachal Pradesh on Monday, reported TOI.

The deceased has been identified as Satish from Gujarat. The 27-year-old man took off from Indru Nag Paragliding Site, located in the suburbs of the city, on Sunday in a tandem flight with paraglider pilot Suraj. Their paraglider crashed after a short distance. A video of the crash is circulating on the internet.

Satish suffered severe injuries and was brought to Zonal Hospital Dharamshala and later referred to Tanda Medical College, where he died on Monday, police said. Meanwhile, Suraj is still under treatment.


The body will be handed over to the family members after a post-mortem, said Kangra Additional Superintendent of Police (SP) Hitesh Lakhanpal.

The investigation of the case has been given to the local station house officer (SHO), with the tourism department officials also being asked to look into the matter, he added.

In January this year, a woman from Gujarat, identified as Bhavsar Khushi, died as she fell while taking off on a tandem flight.

In total, over 12 people have died while paragliding in Himachal Pradesh during the last 30 months. However, a majority of deaths were attributed to free fliers who venture into high-risk zones or inner valleys with little knowledge of topography and local wind conditions.