A Russian man died and another was injured on January 3, when an extreme attraction went wrong in the republic of Karachayevo-Cherkessiya.
Denis Burakov, 27, and his friend Vladimir Shcherbov, 33, were set to roll from the top of Mussa-Achitaro Mountain in a zorb* made of transparent plastic.
The men were set to roll down a special route and someone was supposed to catch it at the bottom, RIA Novosti reported.
For reasons unknown the zorb went off the trail and fell into the Gonachkhir Gorge down a 70-80-degree slope. The ball flew for about a kilometer and stopped on the ice-covered Peacock’s Eye Lake in the gorge. The rescuers had to use skis to get to the lake. Burakov was still alive, but died in an ambulance after being carried out of the gorge which took six hours.
Shcherbov has been taken to a hospital with concussion and multiple minor injuries.
One the pair’s friends filmed the ride and uploaded it onto YouTube.
Police opened a criminal case on providing services that do not comply with health and safety and resulted in death. The perpetrators could spend six years in prison.
However, they fled the scene, and the police are looking for the businessmen, who had just set up the attraction and were operating it without any licenses.
The police issued a search warrant for three people.
*A zorb is a giant inflatable ball.