A parachutist blacked out an entire town when he was blown onto high voltage power cables in Verzasca, Switzerland. The sky-diver survived the ordeal and was cut down after a pal who'd jumped with him raised the alarm. When rescue services arrived they were unable to free the man because just touching him would have sent tens of thousands of volts coursing through his body. As a result they had to wait until the power could be cut off before they could carry out the rescue. Rescuers at first tried to reach the man using a helicopter but eventually gave up because of the risk that the downdraught from the helicopter blades might have dislodged him. Eventually they set up an inflatable mattress to catch him as he dropped to the ground

Credit : CEN