A German paraglider was seriously injured after crashing on Galicica mountain in North Macedonia, the Mountain Rescue Service (PSS) said on Thursday.
The man fell from a high altitude onto rocky terrain for reasons that remain unclear, the service said. His fellow paragliders alerted rescuers at around 6:30 p.m. local time (1630 GMT).
Three rescuers stationed nearby at the Spiridon mountain lodge responded within 15 minutes, immobilized the injured man and began a difficult evacuation over steep terrain, the service added. The operation was complicated by darkness.
After more than an hour, the paraglider was brought to a road near the Baba mountain pass and handed over to emergency medics from Ohrid at 8:20 p.m. He was transferred to the St. Erasmus Special Hospital for Orthopaedics and Traumatology, where doctors diagnosed fractures to five vertebrae in the lower spine.
The Mountain Rescue Service urged visitors to exercise caution while enjoying the autumn landscape of Galicica.