Hubby arrested over parachute incident
A British Army sergeant has been arrested in the UK on suspicion of attempted murder after his wife's parachute failed to open.
The incident in March caused experienced parachutist Victoria Cilliers, 39, to plummet towards the ground at 160kmh, reported the Daily Mail.
Mrs Cilliers, a member of The Army Parachute Association, suffered multiple fractures to her ribs and legs when her main and reserve canopies malfunctioned during a solo jump on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, in south-west England, reported The Telegraph.
She crash-landed in a field.
Her South African-born husband Emile, 35, was arrested after police were alerted to the possibility her parachute could have been sabotaged before the jump.
He is an instructor with the Royal Army Physical Training Corps attached to the Royal Engineers.
The fall was initially thought to have been an accident, but police launched an investigation after members of the parachute club raised concerns with detectives about the state of the main canopy where "slinks" were found to be missing.
The slinks are strips of material that connect the jumper's harness to the canopies.
Without them, a parachute cannot function properly.
On a Facebook posting, Mrs Cilliers wrote: "Where do I go from here? I have no idea where to start. It is a hundred times harder as I am housebound and cannot care independently for my children due to my current injuries."
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