Skydiving firm 'saddened' over staff member death

A man who died in a parachute accident on Saturday was a skydiving firm staff member, the company confirmed.

Emergency services were called to South West Industrial Estate in Shotton Colliery at 12:30 BST on Saturday, and a man in his 40s was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sky High Skydiving said it was "deeply saddened by the loss of a close friend" and would remain closed until Friday.

The company, which is based at Shotton Airfield, added it was assisting British Skydiving and the police with their inquiries.

In a social media statement, the firm said: "The incident involved one of our staff videographers and not one of our one-off charity jumpers.

"We are all deeply saddened by the loss of a close friend, colleague and talented member of our team, our skydiving family. So please bear with us during this difficult time."

British Skydiving said it had been informed about the "fatal accident" and confirmed a Board of Inquiry had been convened.

It said a report would be submitted to the coroner, police, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the British Skydiving Safety & Training Committee (STC) and other relevant authorities.

"The report will include the Board’s conclusions and will, make any recommendations if appropriate," British Skydiving said.

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