Paraglider narrowly escapes fall over rock face
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On the Hochstaufen near Bad Reichenhall, a paraglider narrowly escaped the supposedly fatal fall over a rock face. After a free fall of five meters, he hit a small grassy plateau in the summit area – right on the edge of a high cliff. The Hochstaufen is also a local mountain for many Salzburg residents.
According to mountain rescuers, the 35-year-old mountaineer and aviator from the border region of Upper Bavaria to Salzburg suffered a serious foot injury and an injury to the spine.
He had spent the night in the refuge at the summit and started shortly after 10 a.m. from the highest point of the Hochstaufen. A few seconds later, its chute collapsed and the paraglider crashed.
Alert by eyewitnesses
Hikers observed what was happening from the summit and alerted the emergency services via mobile phone. The crew of the emergency doctor helicopter Christoph 14 dropped off their emergency doctor at the casualty for medical first aid. Then the pilot flew into the valley to take two mountain rescuers from Reichenhall on board and bring them to the scene of the accident.
Together, the seriously injured man was made transportable, packed in a rescue bag, taken on board with the steel cable winch and flown to the hospital.