Story By: Maja Mishevksa, Sub Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
An American tourist has died as he was paragliding in Colombia and investigators say he might have passed away while still up in the air.
The incident took place in the area known as Damasco, in the municipality of Santa Barbara, in the southwestern Colombian department of Antioquia when the tourist, named in reports as Rafael Thomas Zakota, was paragliding.
His body was found on the ground and Nicolas Villada, the Commander of the firefighters in the municipality, said his death might have happened due to natural causes when he was still in the air.
Zakota’s body has been sent to forensic scientists but the results of their examinations have not yet been revealed.
Villada sais: “The paraglider apparently died in the air and then fell, according to the images we have, with no vital signs.”
Some reports suggest he may have suffered a heart attack, however others said strong winds could have caused him to fall.
The Commander of the Police of Antioquia, Luis Fernando Arcos, said Zakota had arrived in Colombia with five other people, whose nationalities were not mentioned, to go paragliding together.
He said: “The group lost communication with the victim who finally died. Their hypothesis is that the winds caused him to fly low and caused his death”.
He added: “We do know that the paragliding jump in Santa Barbara was not authorised, they did it with autonomy as they had not communicated it or requested authorisation to do so”.
It reportedly took several hours to find the victim’s body as he fell in an area which is difficult to access.
Reports state the process of repatriating the victim’s body has begun.
Villada said the area is known for the Cerro Amarillo take-off spot for paragliders and added: “Twenty days ago we had another accident with a person who also fell, and was injured, but he did not die and was taken to Medellin.”
The incident comes after another US citizen, named as Michael O’Daniel in local media, died in a paragliding accident in the municipality of Jerico, also in the Antioquia Department on 29th January.
Local paragliding expert Felipe Arboleda told local media: “Tropical countries, including Colombia, are places where the conditions are difficult to fly, it is not calm especially after in the afternoon.
“You can find more turbulence, more problems that will require more control, and need more experience”.
The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
