Cape Town - A fifty-eight-year-old tourist from the UK tourist is dead after a freak accident along the Sea Point promenade saw two paragliders collide in mid-air, one of them managing to land safely while the other landed on the rocks.
The two tandem paragliders, which had taken off from Signal Hill, carried two pilots and two passengers. Three were rescued, and emergency workers attempted to resuscitate the tourist with CPR but he died.
Before Monday’s incident, the last mishap saw two paragliders being forced to land in Sea Point’s Main Road on November 2, after being blown off course by a strong gust.
According to National Sea Rescue Institute spokesperson Craig Lambinon, NSRI Bakoven and Table Bay reacted to the accident at 4.28pm yesterday, opposite Sea Point High School.
Labinon said the ARCC (Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre) had also been alerted to the accident.
“It appears that two tandem paragliders may have collided in the air above the Sea Point promenade. One tandem paraglider reportedly landed safely and both the pilot and passenger were found to be not injured.
“A second tandem paraglider reportedly deployed a reserve parachute and is believed to have landed in the surf approximately (believed to be) 200 to 300 metres off-shore of Sea Point Promenade,” said Lambinon.
He said the NSRI’s rescue craft from NSRI Bakoven and from NSRI Table Bay, NSRI rescue swimmers, the SAPS, Western Cape Government Health EMS rescue squad, City of Cape Town (CoCT) Law Enforcement, Netcare 911 ambulance services and Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services responded.
“On arrival on the scene, the adult male pilot of the tandem paraglider (that had reportedly deployed a reserve parachute) was safely on the shore and he was treated for minor injuries. The tandem passenger, a 58-year-old Irish man, was on rocks in the water off-shore of the Sea Point Promenade.
NSRI rescue swimmers and paramedics reached the man and he was freed from paragliding gear and recovered on to rocks where CPR efforts commenced. Despite extensive CPR efforts, he was sadly declared deceased by paramedics,” Lambinon said.
The man’s body was recovered to the shoreline and taken into the care of Police and Government Health Forensic Pathology Services.
Police have opened an inquest docket into the death.
Meanwhile, the search for a 9-year-old boy continues after he was swept off the rocks at Sandy Bay by a big wave on Sunday. Hout Bay police station commander Colonel Jerome Syster said he had yet to speak to all of those who were present when the incident occurred.
National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) spokesperson Craig Lambinon said the boy went missing while standing on the rocks along with his friends and relatives. A wave swept him from the rocks into the sea.
Responding to the call on Sunday, NSRI Hout Bay duty crew launched the NSRI rescue craft Albie Matthews and Spirit of Gabi.
Western Cape Government Health EMS Metro Control activated the EMS/ AMS Skymed rescue helicopter. SAPS also responded along with the Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services, Western Cape Government Health EMS, while City Law Enforcement and the police dive unit were placed on alert.
“At 3.47pm on Sunday, July 2, NSRI Hout Bay duty crew were activated following reports of a 9-year-old male child missing in the sea after reportedly being washed off rocks at Sandy Bay on the Atlantic Seaboard.
“It appears that the child, from Hout Bay, was with friends and relatives at Sandy Bay where, while standing on a rock on the shoreline, a wave reportedly swept the child off the rocks into the sea. Along the barely accessible terrain an extensive sea, air and shoreline search revealed no signs of the missing child,” said Lambinon.
On Monday, Syster said the circumstances around the search were difficult.
“The search is expected to continue again today. I don’t really know what happened but I am yet to speak to everyone who was present during the incident. The boy’s family is from Belhar so we’ll have to go there and collect the individuals who were with him for questioning,” Syster said.
siviwe.melapi@inl.co.za