India: Two para gliders stuck on lamp post in Kerala rescued

Thiruvananthapuram: Two para gliders, including a woman, who got caught on a 100-foot-tall mast light at the popular tourist destination of Varkala near the state capital on Tuesday, were brought down to ground safely in an emergency operation, officials said.

Those caught on the tall structure included the instructor of the para gliding firm and a woman tourist from Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore. After their rescue, they were taken for medical examination.

The two clung on to the lamp post for around 40 minutes as the fire service and police were unable to help because their was not high enough to reach them.

Meanwhile, as a safety measure, the locals had put up a safety net at the ground level and stacked it with mattresses that was brought from the nearby resorts.

The rescue was subsequently accomplished as the high mast light was brought down manually and the two were rescued and taken for medical examination.

Officials of the licensed para gliding firm say it is possible that there was a change in the wind direction as they jumped out and the instructor was unable to control their descent and they got hooked on the light tower.

Para gliding is a popular sport at Varkala and a good number of tourists engage in it.