Teen, 16, plunges to death in horror paragliding accident on family holiday
A teenager has died and a paragliding instructor reportedly went on the run following a horror accident during what was supposed to be a dream family holiday.
Hussein Mearbany, 16, fell to his death while paragliding in Sahel Alma, a picturesque seaside village in Lebanon, with an instructor while on holiday with his family. The teen, from Western Sydney, Australia, plummeted around 300 metres and died instantly on May 10 after reportedly slipping out from an improperly fastened paragliding harness. The instructor is now the subject of an investigation, but local media reports he fled the scene after the accident.
According to local media, the owner of the paragliding company has been arrested and all paragliding excursions have been suspended in the surrounding Jounieh area, around 40 minutes outside of Beirut. Police are now reviewing video footage of the horror incident to try and work out what happened.
Speaking to 7NEWS Australia, the teenager's cousin Sam said he and his family were only two weeks into their holiday when tragedy struck, and that a funeral for the teen was arranged in Lebanon. She said: "When his father heard the news, he flew from Sydney to Lebanon to see him.
"The day they leave Lebanon is going to be the hardest day of their life." Hussein's family shared a plea with Lebanese authorities via Al Arabiya Lebanon to take action against those responsible for his shock death.
So far, police have arrested the owner of the paragliding company, which operated out of nearby Jounieh, as they continue to search for the missing instructor.
As Hussein's family deals with the devastation in Lebanon, friends have paid tribute to the teen, with one person posting online saying he "wanted to feel the adrenaline of flying".
They wrote: "(He) went to Lebanon for a holiday — full of dreams, excitement, and the energy of youth. Like many young men, he wanted to feel the adrenaline of flying, so he went hang gliding off the mountain peaks of Lebanon. What was meant to be a moment of thrill became his final moment.
"May Allah grant his family patience and reunite them with him in the highest levels of Jannah. And as for us — still breathing, still planning, still distracted — take this as a wake-up call. The only promise in life is death."
A spokesperson for the Austrailian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed the office is offering consular assistance to the family of an Australian who died in Lebanon. They sais: "We send our deepest condolences to their family at this difficult time,' a spokesperson said.
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