WWI soldiers frozen in time.

From here.

WWI soldiers’ bodies found in ice
From correspondents in Rome
23aug04
THE preserved bodies of three Austrian soldiers killed in World War I had been found at the foot of an Italian glacier, 86 years after their deaths, a museum in northern Italy said today.

They were found by Maurizio Vincenzi, the director of the military history museum in the small town of Peio in the Trentino region.

The bodies were found 3400 metres up the San Matteo mountain and were said to be exceptionally well preserved.

They were spotted by Mr Vincenzi, a member of a mountain rescue team, after he scanned the glacier with binoculars and noticed marks on it.

The area was the scene of fighting between Austrian and Italian troops in 1918 and the Austrian soldiers would have belonged to a regiment based at Dimaro nearby.

It is believed that the men died when they were attacked with grenades. Their bodies have been taken to a morgue in Peio and will be transferred to a military cemetery.

According to Mr Vincenzi, it is 80 years since the preserved body of a World War I soldier has been found.

Skydiver jumps without parachute.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) — A South African skydiver survived a 3,500 meter (11,500 ft) plunge after her parachute failed to open and lines broke on her reserve chute, a local skydiving club said Monday.

Christy McKenzie was hurtling towards the ground at more than 200 kms (120 miles) per hour on Sunday when her parachute failed to deploy, Johan Mulder, the chief instructor at the Johannesburg Skydiving Club, told Reuters.

“When it didn’t open she tried to deploy her reserve parachute and it had a fairly hard opening. A couple of the lines broke and so it was not fully open,” he said.

This meant that her descent was still dangerously fast.

Powerlines broke her fall and may have saved her life. She survived with a hairline fracture to her pelvis.

“It’s extremely, extremely rare … it’s unheard of that there are malfunctions in reserve parachutes,” Mulder said, adding that the equipment was being sent to the manufacturer to determine why it did not work properly.

The Johannesburg Star newspaper quoted McKenzie, an experienced skydiver, as saying from her hospital bed: “I’ll jump again.”

The incident occurred at Carletonville, about 70 km (40 miles) west of Johannesburg.

Hot off the press. If your interested or not, Simon’s Mrs. M. shot a baby out of her at 88 miles per hour.

Posted in General |

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