Skydiver killed after parachute fails to open

A woman died after her parachute failed to open while she was sky diving in northern England, police say.

Paramedics rushed to the scene of the crash Saturday in Shotton Colliery, County Durham, after the 49-year-old plummeted from the aircraft, Durham Constabulary said in a statement.

The woman, from the nearby town of Hebburn, was taken to hospital, where she died.

Detective Inspector Dave Cuthbert said the death was “a tragic incident.”

“The lady who has died was using her own equipment and was making her first sky dive in this country, having previously made parachute jumps abroad,” he said.

He said police would work with safety authorities and the British Parachuting Association to establish why the parachute failed to open.

Last month, two skydivers died in Northern California after their parachute failed to open following a tandem jump.

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