A British man has died following a base jumping incident in France. The 34-year-old from Newnham in west Northamptonshire, was on holiday with three friends when the accident happened on Tuesday (March 22)
Police have said he may have opened his parachute before crashing into a cliff in the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region. He died later in hospital, MirrorOnline reports.
An investigation has been launched by police. It is not yet known whether the accident, which was witnessed by one of his friends, was a result of technical failure or human error.
A police spokesman said: “We are investigating to find out the cause of this accident. It appears that the man had possibly opened his parachute and then crashed into a cliff.
"But at present we don’t know exactly what happened."
The group had been in Millau where they had been base jumping, an extreme sport which sees people launch from a high fixed point, such as a cliff or building, and going into free-fall before deploying a parachute to slow the descent and land.
Base jumpers carry only one parachute in contrast with skydivers who jump with a main and a reserve.
On Tuesday the weather was clear and the group decided to base jump in the gorges de la Bourne in the town of Châtelus. They launched themselves off the Bournillon cliff.
One of the man’s friends raised the alarm after seeing that his friend’s parachute would not open. Rescuers were alerted shortly before 7pm.
He was found at the base of a steep cliff which was difficult for rescuers to reach. Two rescuers were winched as close as possible to the injured man.
Once he was secured he was lowered to a more accessible opening. He was then airlifted in a critical condition to Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Grenoble Alpes where he died from his injuries.
