Bulgarian Tourist Dies In Himachal Paragliding Crash, Another Rescued

A foreign tourist died in a paragliding accident in Himachal Pradesh's Dharamshala, while another foreign national was injured and later rescued safely.

The victim has been identified as Bulgarian citizen Maxim Valentinovich Gavrilichenko. The other man, also a Bulgarian citizen, has been identified as Stephen Antony. 

Police said Gavrilichenko arrived in India on October 7 on a tourist visa. On Sunday, he was flying solo paragliding with his friend. Gavrilichenko and Antony took off from Bir Billing around 11 am. The accident occurred at an altitude of about 2,700 metres between 3 pm and 3.30 pm near Rising Star Peak in Dharamshala's Khanaira. Gavrilichenko hit the ground while Antony survived safely. According to preliminary information, strong winds are said to be the cause of the accident. 

A rescue and recovery operation was launched by the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and other collaborating teams on Sunday at around 9 pm after receiving information. Special attention was paid to confirmation of the exact location of the incident site, communication arrangements, coordination among field teams and deployment of necessary resources during the operation, which was conducted in remote mountainous terrain.

The operation continued throughout the night and was completed on Monday at around 10 am.

After completion of the recovery operation, the body of Gavrilichenko was handed over to the concerned department for further necessary legal and other procedures. Antony, meanwhile, was given necessary assistance and airlifted during the rescue operation, according to police. 

Police said Gavrilichenko's body has been kept at the morgue of Zonal Hospital Dharamshala for postmortem examination. Police are completing the necessary legal formalities in the case. The exact causes of the accident will be confirmed after an investigation.