A Belgian base jumper who became stranded 23 floors up the side of a central Auckland hotel says his jump “did not go as planned” after his parachute spun around and crashed into the building.
Firefighters smashed a glass panel worth about $20,000 to reach the 22-year-old, who has since been charged with burglary. Police allege he is the same man who filmed himself leaping from the under-construction Seascape tower in September.
In a statement to 1News, the jumper said “something very unexpected” happened when his parachute opened on Tuesday night.
“It spun around and crashed into the building. Unfortunately, the building wasn’t smooth and the parachute got caught on a metal bar on the facade.
“I was able to hold on to it while waiting for the rescue team to arrive.”
The Hotel Indigo tower on Albert St is one of the tallest in Auckland’s CBD, rising more than 140m over 41 storeys. The hotel occupies the first 29 floors and apartments fill the rest.
The jumper said his values in the sport were to “never break anything to access a jump, never endanger or disturb anyone other than myself”.
“Unfortunately, yesterday’s jump did not go as planned. I apologise to all those affected. I thank the emergency services for their help, kindness.”
Auckland City senior station officer Darren Gussey, who was part of the specialist high-angle rescue team, told 1News crews were called about 10.45pm.
He said the man was “clinging to the exterior of the building” and told rescuers “he didn’t have much left in him”.
“So we gathered from that that he was basically clinging on to some part of the structure.”
Firefighters removed the exterior windows on the 23rd floor and pulled him into a room. A St John CERT team medic checked him there, before crews handed him to police.
“Basically, the person appears to have no injuries at all, and he is assisting police with their inquiries,” Gussey said.
“It’s always a relief when you can save somebody from what would be a terrible scene.”
A St John spokesperson said ambulance staff assessed one person in a minor condition, and no one needed to go to hospital.
‘Face the consequences’
Inspector Grae Anderson said the jumper had allegedly leapt from the 187m under-construction Seascape tower last month.
“We do not condone this type of behaviour. It is reckless and poses risk to the person jumping and those on the ground,” he said.
Anderson said hotel guests had their evening “disrupted”, and the glass panel crews smashed to reach the man was worth about $20,000.
“In this case the man not only needed rescuing, but paying guests to the hotel had their stay impacted and expensive damage had to be caused to facilitate that rescue.
“This is unacceptable and now instead of leaving New Zealand and carrying on with his travel plans he will stay here and face the consequences of his actions.”
The man will appear in the Auckland District Court on October 27.