Paragliding turns nightmare as glider gets entangled in high-mast pole

Adventure tourism at Varkala beach turned harrowing experience for a tourist from Tamil Nadu afternoon after she and her paragliding instructor got entangled on more than 50-metre high-mast lamp pole

Adventure tourism at Varkala beach turned a harrowing experience for a tourist from Tamil Nadu on Tuesday afternoon after she and her paragliding instructor got entangled on a more than 50-metre tall high-mast lamp pole and were left hanging from it for nearly two hours before being rescued.

As the Fire department did not have a ladder which was not tall enough, the rescue plan was to lower the columns of the high mast to bring them to safety and as a precautionary measure mattresses and nets were placed at the bottom of the pole, police said.

Thereafter, the pole was lowered and the 28-year old woman and the paragliding instructor were rescued, police said.

Both of them have been admitted to the Taluk Hospital in Varkala and are safe, police said.

The mishap occurred when the paragliders, who took off from a helipad at Varkala, were blown towards the high mast lamp pole due to a sudden change in wind direction, police said.

The glider got entangled in the pillar and both gliders were trapped hanging from the top of it.

The public alerted the police and fire service personnel when they saw the gliders hanging from the pillar.

Police said the paragliding instructor belonged to Varkala and the woman was a tourist from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.