By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-22 16:46:50 | Updated at 2025-01-25 01:25:14
2 days ago
A horrifying video captured the moment a paragliding tourist plunged to her death after appearing to spin out of control.
Paulina Biskup, 38, of Poland, was seen paragliding over the city of Roldanillo in southwestern Colombia on Tuesday when she slipped out of her harness and fell to the ground.
A Colombian National Police official told El Tiempo newspaper that Biskup 'did not fasten the harness, and as a result, fell into the abyss.'
Video taken by a witness showed Biskup appearing to lose control of her parachute and swinging wildly in the air moments before becoming detached.
In the video, a woman can be heard shouting, 'Look she fell!'
The police official told El Tiempo that Biskup, who resided in Dublin, had joined her boyfriend and a group of friends for the paragliding expedition.
They were awaiting the arrival of Biskup's boyfriend and friends, who were paragliding in another area.
The office of Roldanillo Mayor Jaime Ríos said Biskup was not among the participants who arrived in Colombia on January 8 to compete in the Roldanillo Open 2025, a paragliding event.
Paulina Biskup, a native of Poland who resides in Dublin, was killed while paragliding in Colombia on Tuesday
Authorities told Colombian newspaper El Tiempo that Paulina Biskup (pictured) 'did not fasten the harness, and as a result, fell' while paragliding on Tuesday
Paulina Biskup had traveled to Colombia with her boyfriend and friends to practice the extreme sport
The weeklong event featured more than 130 athletes from 40 countries.
'We are acting proactively to safeguard the lives and integrity of paragliders, who visit our municipality in large numbers at this time of year, attracted by the benefits of the region's topography and meteorology,' the mayor's office said in a statement.
The Ríos administration urged paragliders to exercise caution prior to and during their flights to avoid accidents in the future.
'We call on the paragliding community to intensify safety protocols and pre-operational checks,' it said.
'We will work hand in hand with the take-off runways registered with the (aviation authorities) to strengthen procedures during the take-off of athletes.'
The deadly accident comes a week after a Russian paraglider fell in a forest located between Roldanillo and Bolívar and suffered an ankle fracture during an event at the Roldanillo Open.
In March 2024, 27-year-old Daniela Barrios suffered a deadly fall after she slipped from the copilot's paraglider seat while flying over Quindio.
