PUTRAJAYA: A participant of the Putrajaya Base Jump event faced a daunting moment when his parachute got stuck on a lamppost off the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry building.
In the 5.30 pm incident, Japanese jumper Yasuhiro Kubo hung onto the fixture for more than 10 minutes before being rescued by the event’s management personnel with the help of Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department.
The veteran who has made 12,000 jumps in various disciplines over his 32-year career, is believed to have gotten stuck on the 21st floor of the 40-storey building, after strong winds blew the parachute towards the wall of the building during the descent.
A Bernama survey at the scene found event management personnel using a gondola lift to bring down the victim.
The man in his late 50s who suffered light injuries, was attended to by the Malaysian Civil Defence Force personnel before being taken to the Putrajaya Hospital.
Kubo appeared cheerful as he waved to other fellow participants and posed for a selfie in the gondola lift while being brought down. However, he declined to comment when met.
The jumper who is expected to return to Tokyo tonight, was among 34 foreigners from nine countries who participated in the event organised by the Putrajaya Corporation (PPj) in conjunction with its silver jubilee and the Federal Territories Day celebration.
Meanwhile, PPj Corporate Communications Division director Tengku Aina Tengku Ismail Shah in a statement said the organisers had made extensive preparations to tackle any eventualities, and commended the quick action taken during the incident.– BERNAMA