A former Scotland rugby player was killed in a paragliding accident in South Africa while there to watch his son play in the Under-20 World Championship, authorities said Tuesday.
Greig Oliver, who played for Scotland from 1987-1992 and was a member of the coaching staff at Irish rugby club Munster, died in the incident in Cape Town on Monday, Munster and the South African Rugby Union said. He was 58.
Oliver’s son, Jack, is playing for the Ireland team at the tournament in South Africa and he was on holiday with his wife, Fiona.
South Africa’s National Sea Rescue Institute said that Oliver was on a tandem paraglider with a pilot when they collided in mid-air with another tandem paraglider near the shore at Cape Town’s Sea Point area.
UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT DETECTED AT SOUTH AFRICAN MINE A MONTH AFTER A GAS EXPLOSION SHUTTERED THE SITE
Oliver and the pilot landed in the sea between 200-300 meters offshore. The pilot sustained minor injuries but Oliver was discovered on some rocks out at sea and entangled in the paragliding equipment, rescuers said. The rescue team performed CPR on him but he was declared dead, the sea rescue institute said.
The two people on the other paraglider were unhurt.
The South African Rugby Union said it “will do everything in its power to support the Oliver family in coping with this terrible situation.”
Oliver only played a handful of games for Scotland but did appear at two Rugby World Cups, in 1987 and 1991.
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