Two tourists died in separate paragliding accidents in Kangra and Kullu districts of Himachal Pradesh within 24 hours, police reported on Saturday. The victims hailed from Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.
In Kangra district, Khushi Bhavsar, a tourist from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, was involved in a fatal accident at the Indrunag paragliding site near Dharamshala on Saturday evening. She was on a tandem flight when she fell during take-off. The pilot also fell alongside her and sustained injuries.
According to Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Kangra Vir Bahadur, the injured pilot was rushed to Tanda Medical College for treatment. “All aspects are being investigated,” he said.
In a separate incident in Kullu district, a 28-year-old tourist from Tamil Nadu, identified as Jayash Ram, lost his life on Friday evening near the Garsa landing site. The accident occurred when one paraglider performing acrobatics collided with another in mid-air, approximately 100 feet above the ground. The collision caused one of the paragliders to fall.
Jayash Ram succumbed to his injuries, while the pilot, Ashwani Kumar, sustained serious injuries and was transported to PGI Chandigarh for medical treatment.
A police official confirmed that a case has been registered under sections 125 (negligent act endangering life of others) and 106 (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and further investigations are ongoing.
This is not the first instance of paragliding fatalities in Kullu. On January 7, a tourist from Andhra Pradesh died in a paragliding accident at Raison, approximately 20 km from Manali.
Following a preliminary inquiry, it was revealed that negligence had contributed to the incident as the operator had not taken off from the site approved by the tourism department. Consequently, the Naga Bagh paragliding site was closed, and the operator’s licence was cancelled.
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