Base jumpers get aerial view of London 2012 Olympics site
Two parachutists have diced with death by doing a daring base jump over east London's 2012 Olympics site.
Published: 5:04PM BST 11 Aug 2010
Base jumpers in London went for an extreme view of the London 2012 Olympics site Photo: NATIONAL NEWS
Dan McCurry, 44, had risen early to get a shot of the sun rising over the Olympics development. The photographer, from Bow, said he thought that his mind was playing tricks on him when the first base jumper floated into his picture - until a second appeared moments later.
<!-- BEFORE ACI --> He said: "I had driven around for a bit but couldn't find a good spot to catch the sunrise so I stopped and just took a couple of pictures anyway.
"Suddenly this parachutist just appeared in the shot. Because I hadn't had much sleep I thought that I was just seeing things.
"Then I thought that the guy must have been parachuting and somehow got lost and landed on the pavement. "It was only when the second one came along that I realised that they must have been base jumping, because I definitely would have seen them if they had come out of the sky.
"I was quite pleased because it meant I wasn't going loopy." Mr McCurry said that the daredevils must have leapt from cranes overlooking the development. He said: "I was on 2012 Boulevard, looking towards Stratford, and the only thing high enough for them to have jumped off is the cranes overlooking.
"They must be about 400 feet tall." He said that the mystery base jumpers could have caused an accident with their antics. He said: "It's obviously dangerous. The first guy landed right next to a busy main road where the cars are going at about 50mph.
"Even if he didn't hurt himself he could have caused someone else to crash because it's such a distraction. "I jumped out of a plane once and I enjoyed that but like most people I think base jumping would just be terrifying. Still it's obviously their idea of fun."
