The police are searching for a paraglider who possibly crashed into the woods in the Flemish Brabant province on Wednesday afternoon.
Witnesses describe seeing a paraglider with a dark coloured paragliding screen seemingly in trouble, who most likely crashed, around 1:15 PM on Wednesday.
The police immediately starting combing the area, backed up by the police helicopter and patrol teams from the zones of the Aarschot, BRT and Haacht areas. The whole area between Aarschot, Nieuwrode and Wezemaal was searched, reports Het Laatste Nieuws.
"We are searching in several teams, but there is no trace of the paraglider for the time being," said Walter Vranckx, the Chief of Police, reports Het Nieuwsblad. "We do not know exactly where he would have landed either. Several indications point in the direction of Wezemaal, but we are not sure. It is a vast area full of woods," he added.
It is not yet clear whether the paraglider actually crashed or if he has landed safely. "We suspect that he was just doing some special flying exercises, but we are not sure yet," said Vranckx.
Around 4:30 PM, the search was stopped as it was too dark to keep searching in the woods. "We hope that the person was just an experienced athlete who was training, and that he landed safely. If that is the case, it would be nice if he would come forward, so that we know that he is effectively safe," he added.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
