TOULOUSE, France (AP) — The start of a European Rugby Champions Cup match in Toulouse was delayed after a parachutist carrying the match ball got tangled up on the stadium roof.
He was descending quickly when the right side of his blue-and-white parachute became stuck on a section of the roof, leaving him dangling some 15 meters above a section of fans.
Numerous videos posted on X showed two firemen finally reaching the stricken parachutist via a long ladder extended from their fire truck.
The parachutist was reportedly a French soldier.
He appeared unharmed and helped them to untangle the chute as the crowd began cheering when they saw he was safe.
After the firemen finally yanked the last bit of the parachute from the roof they were treated to a huge ovation, and they, in turn, got the crowd going to milk the applause.
Toulouse's match against English team Sale then got underway following a delay of 40 minutes. __
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
The Associated Press
