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Video footage shows paraglider's perilous accidental 8000m-high flight

created: May 29, 2025, 12:51 p.m. | updated: May 30, 2025, 6:27 a.m.

A Chinese paraglider has survived being accidentally propelled 8,500m (27,800ft) into the sky above north-west China, state media report. Peng Yujiang was testing new equipment over the Qilian mountains on Saturday, when a rare updraft or air current known as a "cloud suck" pulled him higher into the air. Mr Peng narrowly survived death - oxygen levels are thin at that altitude and temperatures can plummet to -40C. Chinese authorities are investigating the incident and Mr Peng has been suspended for six months because the flight was unauthorised, state-run Global Times reported. An earlier version of this edit contained a shot from a previous flight

1 week, 3 days ago: BBC News