A search team of the Armed Police Force (APF), and backed by a different squad of Nepal Army (NA), had rescued Kamen Kumanov, 40, from the gorge of Rumlekhola in Machhapuchchhre village-9 of Kaski district on Friday. [break]
Kumanov was airlifted to Pokhara on Saturday. He was working as a paragliding pilot at Paranova Paragliding Company of Pokhara. He had taken a three-day off to hang out with his friends.
Kumanov, who looked exhausted with bruised face and hands, told reporters that he had almost given up hope of surviving. "I spent five days without anything to eat," he said. "I had to quench my thirst by drinking water that I got by heating up snow. It was too horrendous to sleep inside the dark and chilling jungle."
APF inspector Nabin Budhathoki had first spotted Kumanov. "He was not able to speak. I gave him a can of juice. Only then did he speak," Budhthoki said. "His health could have further deteriorated had we spent some more hours to spot him."
Kumanov said he could not handle the paragliding craft after one of its strings got detached all of a sudden. "The air swept me away and threw me against a hard rock cliff," he said. "I then fell down in the jungle. It seems like a miracle that I survived."
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