Moment paraglider crashes into luxury hotel

FERMANGH: A paraglider crashed into the roof of a luxury hotel and had to be rescued by fire crews.

Video footage shared on social media shows the man gliding through the air before colliding with Lough Erne Golf Resort near Enniskillen, in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.

He then slides down the roof, before coming to a stop at the end of the slope, thankfully not falling any further.

Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said they were called to reports a man was trapped on the second floor roof of the hotel at around 12.50pm on Sunday.

The man was removed by crews using ropes and a ladder, before being handed over to the ambulance service, who took him to hospital.

Emergency services have not released details about his injuries.

The resort confirmed the incident on its social media pages, and said that aside from the immediate vicinity of the collision, the resort was operating normally and bookings were not affected.

It did temporarily close the hotel to general members of the public who did not have bookings.

A spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service told Metro: ‘Firefighters were called to a report of a male who was trapped on the 2nd floor roof of a hotel yesterday afternoon.

‘Firefighters, alongside the Specialist Rescue Team rescued the casualty using rope rescue equipment and a ladder.

‘The man was left in the care of NIAS (Northern Ireland Fire Service) and firefighters left the scene at 4.46pm.’

A spokesperson for Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said: ‘We received a 999 call at 12:49 on Sunday 28 December following reports of an incident in the area of Lough Shore Road, Enniskillen.

NIAS despatched 1 Rapid Response Paramedic, 1 HART Crew and 1 Emergency Crew to the incident.

‘Following assessment and initial treatment at the scene, one patient was taken to South West Acute Hospital.’

In November Philip Eric Haegler, 59, spiralled into a deadly fall when a hang glider clipped the wing of his paraglider in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, last month.

The hanglider was being controlled by instructor Sergio Manoel da Silva, who was flying with a pupil. He was later indicted for culpable homicide over the death.