Skydiving accident leaves 1 dead, 1 injured in Mississippi; equipment malfunction blamed

August 4, 2013 at 2:49AM

LUMBERTON, Miss. — One person has been killed and another has been injured in a skydiving accident in southern Mississippi.

Lamar County Emergency Management Director James Smith confirmed the fatality to the Hattiesburg American. He said the surviving skydiver has been transported to a hospital with fractures to his extremities and possible head injuries.

Smith said the two jumped in tandem during a Saturday flight conducted by Lumberton-based Gold Coast Skydivers, but that there was an equipment malfunction.

After the two didn't show up at a nearby airport, Smith said Gold Coast Skydivers looked for them for a few hours and then notified authorities. The two were found in a swampy area more than a mile from the airport. No one answered a phone number for Gold Coast Skydivers Saturday night.

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