A Singaporean man, who had survived a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Indonesia a few weeks ago and also saved the lives of a mother-daughter duo, died in a freak paragliding accident in the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh on Monday, October 22.
Ng Kok Choong, a former army commando, had reportedly come to India to participate in the Paragliding World Cup, which was scheduled to begin on October 27.
As per an obituary on the website of Air Sports Federation of Singapore, Choong had taken off with his paraglider at about 11am in Bir-Billing on Monday, but never returned to his hotel. The weather is said to have turned rough and the 53-year-old had been declared missing.
Indian officials then dispatched a search and rescue team to locate him and he was found dead in the hills of the Utrala region in the Baijnath area on Tuesday.
"When the rescue team reached him, he was dead. The cause of the death could only be revealed after post-mortem," the Tribune quoted the sub-divisional magistrate as saying.
Describing Choong as "selfless, brave and always moving for the next challenge," the obituary added: "We are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of our beloved friend, Ng Kok Choong, a beautiful soul who flew with us these many years."
"Coming from a commando background during his National Service years, his always-can-do attitude was highly appreciated and admired by his mates."
Just last month, Choong made headlines when Indonesia was rattled by a 7.4-magnitude earthquake. He was in Palu with a friend when tragedy struck. The duo was said to have gone back to the hotel to seek shelter when they found a girl and her mother trapped under rubble.
The duo then rescued the girl and Choong also pulled out her mother a few hours later, reported the Strait Times.
