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Base jumper survives 60-metre fall with failed parachute

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-05 15:06

SYDNEY -- A base jumper survived a 60-metre (200-foot) plunge from an Australian bridge Sunday despite his parachute failing during the stunt, officials said.

File photo shows a base jumper leaping from a tower in Taiwan. A base jumper has survived a 60-metre (200-foot) plunge from an Australian bridge despite his parachute failing during the stunt, officials have said. [Agencies]

The man, aged in his late 20s, injured his feet and ankles after he jumped off the EJ Whitten Bridge in Melbourne, ambulance spokesman Ray Rowe said.

Rowe could not confirm at what point the man's parachute failed but national news agency AAP said it was believed to be when he was close to the ground.

"He's a very lucky man, I'll say that," Rowe told AFP. "It could have been just so much worse."

Base jumping is a risky activity banned in many places in which enthusiasts leap from high buildings, antennas and other fixed structures and use a parachute to land.