THIS is the sickening moment a thrill-seeker loses his life after his parachute fails to open in time and he crashes to the ground.

The base jumper’s friend landed safely moments after his pal - identified locally as a 50-year-old German - died instantly after hitting rocks at the back of the sandy beach.

3 Harrowing footage has emerged of a base jumper's parachute failing to open

Distressing footage taken by an onlooker showed the horrific sequence of events leading up to today’s tragedy in the Portuguese fishing town of Nazare, famous as a surfing destination where world records have been broken.

A man thought to be the third base jumper filmed standing by the pair that leapt off the edge of the cliff, could be heard yelling: ‘No, no’ as he witnessed what had happened before shouting out to the survivor in English, ‘Are you okay?’

A woman, also speaking in English, could be overheard saying, ‘Oh my God’.

The dead man’s chute only opened after he hit the ground.

3 The hard to watch video was shot in Portugal earlier today

The incident happened just after midday today at Praia do Norte in Nazare - North Beach in English.

Leading Portuguese daily Correio da Manha said the victim was a 50-year-old German. Officials confirmed he was a foreigner.

Police and firefighters were among the emergency services who raced to the scene, but they could nothing to save him.

He was pronounced dead just before 1pm.

The tragedy happened near the same spot where a 29-year-old Swedish man died when his parachute failed to open in July 2013.

3 As one chute can be seen opening the other fails and the jumper plummets to his death

He had travelled to Portugal with some Norwegian friends to pursue his passion for base jumping, which involves participants jumping from fixed objects such as bridges and using parachutes to break their fall.

The new victim has not been named.

Maritime Police chief Paulo Agostinho said the German base jumper fell around 310 feet and confirmed the man he jumped with was a Portuguese friend.

The height of the cliff meant the dead man would have hit the ground at just under 100mph.

Psychologists are now assisting friends of the victim who witnessed the tragedy.

An autopsy was due to take place at regional capital Leiria.

The cliffs at Nazare are a popular spot for base jumping and enthusiasts usually upload videos of their feats onto social media.

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Praia do Norte is famed for its monster waves, which form due to the presence of the underwater Nazare Canyon.

In November 2011 surfer Garrett McNamara surfed a record-breaking wave measuring 78 feet.

Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa broke the previous record by surfing an 80-foot wave on November 8 last year.