Passers-by looked on in astonishment earlier this month when a base jumper descended from the roof of the 100-metre-high Proximus Tower in the Brussels’ municipality of Schaarbeek. Footage that appears on the ‘Birdmanteam’ and ‘Le Sage Sicilien’ Instagram accounts, shows the man jumping off the roof of the building that is the headquarters of the part stated-owned telecommunications firm. The base jumper landed safely. He is now being actively sought by police as he and several others had entered the Proximus Tower illegally.
Base jumping involves jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend. Base jumpers carry just one parachute. Base jumping is more hazardous than other forms of parachuting and is considered to be one of the most dangerous extreme sports.
The video footage shared on Instagram has the battle song from the film ‘Narnia’ as its backing music. It shows the man descending 100 metres from the roof of the building and landing near to the roundabout on the Albert II-laan.
The Brussels North Local Police Service says that it is aware of the incident. A police spokesperson told the Brussels regional news platform Bruzz that "On 18 January we received reports that several people had entered the Proximus Tower without permission. Our officers, including dog handlers, were at the scene quickly. We were able to determine that one of the people had indeed descended to the ground with a parachute and apparently had not been injured in their descent”.
“We are also aware of the video that has been published on social media. This will be added to the case file. We are actively seeking those responsible”.
The police say that they cannot provide any further information for the time being and the investigation is still ongoing.