A tourist from Tamil Nadu and a paragliding instructor, were stuck in a 50 meter tall high mast lamp poll in Thiruvananthapuram’s Varkala on March 7, Tuesday. The duo was left clinging to the pole for over an hour, before they were rescued by the fire force and police. The incident took place near the Papanasam beach, where private groups organise paragliding. After they were rescued, the duo was immediately taken to the Taluk hospital and given primary check up. Police said that the gliders had no injuries.
The rescue mission was delayed as the Fire and Safety department did not have a long ladder that could reach up to the top of the pole. Later, the efforts were to bring down the pole by tilting it. Mattresses and nets were placed below the pole as a safety measure. While trying to bring down the pole, the duo slipped and fell down into a net placed below, when the pole was just 30 metres high. The parachute they used was not a motorised one, but a manual glide guided by the wind.
The 28-year-old woman tourist and the paragliding instructor took off from the helipad in Varkala and due to a sudden change in wind direction they drifted towards the pole. Both the gliders were entangled on top of the pole. The instructor is from Varkala and the tourist is from Coimbatore.