very painful and sadness paragliding, four children kelvin, leah, prince and sarah was found dead due to a terrible crash…….

Witnesses said that Rodrigo Reiner, 54, suffered a collapse soon after launch and went into auto-rotation before hitting the ground.

The accident happened on Thursday, July 4. Local media later reported that Rodrigo’s body was recovered and taken to the Shigar government hospital in Skardu. Skardu is the gateway town to the Baltoro region and the starting place for the week-long trek to K2, the second highest mountain in the world.

Rodrigo was an accomplished high altitude mountaineer, guide, and motivational speaker who had climbed Everest three times. He had been flying for 17 years.

This was his first paragliding trip to Pakistan, and he recently shared on social media how excited he was to be flying in the big mountains of Pakistan, reaching a personal best altitude of 6,000 m and reaching Ladyfinger Peak (6,000 m) in a three hour flight. However, he’d complained of still feeling “weak” following a course of antibiotics for a stomach infection. He leaves behind a wife and a son.

Rodrigo’s accident happened in what is a remote, dramatic, and beautiful part of the Karakoram mountains. The Baltoro region is home to the Baltoro glacier, at 63 km long, one of the longest glaciers outside the polar regions, and some of the world’s highest mountains, including K2 (8,611 m).

He was there as part of a small group of paraglider pilots who had paid well-known French adventure pilot Antoine Girard to organise logistics, permits to fly, and ground support for them.

Antoine, who was in the air at the time of the accident and flying ahead to K2 base camp, said that the rest of the group had been briefed on the flight and the flight plan for the group was “safe and conservative”.

In a WhatsApp message sent from Concordia, which is on the way to K2 base camp, Antoine explained: “The weather was good on 4 July. All the members decided to fly. I instructed Rodrigo, Walid, Colleen and Romano to fly no further than Paju, as the upper part of the Baltoro requires more experience … The Askoli/Paju part does not present any particular danger. The plan was safe and conservative for all members.”

Following the accident, two of the paying pilots left the trip while others continued on towards Concordia.