25-year-old Gujarat tourist dies after fall during paragliding take-off in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh

A 25-year-old tourist died in a paragliding accident on Sunday evening while taking off from an unauthorized site at Bangotu, near the Indrunag paragliding area above Dharamshala, officials said Monday. The victim, identified as Satish from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, was on a tandem flight when he fell during takeoff along with his pilot, who was also injured.

This marks the second fatal paragliding accident involving a tourist in Dharamshala this year. The incident happened around 3:30 pm. Satish was visiting Dharamshala with his family. After the accident, he was first taken to Zonal Hospital in Dharamshala and then referred to Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College in Tanda, Kangra, where he later died from his injuries.

Kangra district tourism officer Vinay Dhiman said preliminary investigations show the flight took off from a non-notified site, violating the Himachal Pradesh Aero-Sports Rules 2022 and a high court order requiring a marshal to be present at all takeoff sites. “This site is neither notified nor was a marshal present," he added.

Authorities have issued show-cause notices to both the pilot and the operator and have asked the district administration to take further action based on their responses. Police are continuing to investigate the incident.

Earlier this year, on January 19, a 19-year-old female tourist also died in a paragliding accident at the Indrunag site in Dharamshala.