Dharamshala: Spanish paraglider Jos Levis, who has been missing for past five days, was rescued on Wednesday from a forest in Bandla area of Palampur around 50 kms from district head quarter Dharamshala..
Lewis was spotted in Bandla hills, near Palampur on Tuesday. Food and clothes were provided to him, but the rescue operation was undertaken today.The Spanish pilot had gone missing from the Billing on paragliding after flying from there Friday. After getting the information, the local rescue team had gathered to search for it.
On Monday, the location of the Spanish pilot Jos Lewis was found near the Jalsu Pass in the Big Face area, over the north of the Baijnath area. After this, the help of helicopter of the pilot’s insurance company was taken, and the team spotted the pilot. But as there was no safe place to land a chauffeur due to the very rough terrain , the team dropped essential food items and warm clothes.
On Wednesday morning, the pilot was safely evacuated with the help of both the ground team and the chopper. SDM Baijnath Vikas Shukla said that the pilot has been taken safely, checked up at the Beed Health Center.
These days, pilots of the many countries are practicing in the Billing Valley for upcoming paragliding competition.
Authorities said that the 40-year-old rescued paraglider Jos Lewis is fine and had not suffered any major injury.
Kok Chang (53), another paraglider from Singapore, who too went missing while paragliding in the Bir-Billing area was found dead on Tuesday.
Sources said Chang, an ex-commando in the Singapore army, was a free flyer. His body was spotted by a team deputed to locate another missing paraglider — Jos Lewis from Spain. Chang had come here to participate in the Paragliding World Cup to be held from October 27.
Arvind Sharma is an award winning bi-lingual journalist with more than 20 years of experience.
He has worked with Divya Himachal, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhasker, Vir Partap, Ajit and PTI.
In 2010, he was conferred the Himachal Kesri journalism award. He reports on the Tibetan Government in Exile, politics, sports, tourism and other topics. He lives in Dharamshala.
