French tourist dies in horror parachute accident in Elgeyo Marakwet

A Frenchwoman has died after a paragliding expedition along the scenic Elgeyo Marakwet hanging valleys turned tragic.

Maud Frederique Binaud, 49, died at Iten County Referral Hospital on Wednesday, just hours after she fell from the skies following a suspected paraglider mishap.

According to a police report, the late Ms Binaud took off from Iten town and flew her paraglider to Nyaru in Keiyo South on Tuesday, landing safely.

However, she went off radar while flying back to the launch pad at Kilima Resort.

The deceased was paragliding alongside her spouse, Pierre Laurens, who was flying a separate paraglider at the time of the accident.

Binaud’s death comes at a time when paragliding along the picturesque Elgeyo Marakwet escarpments is still smarting from a 2018 suspension following a series of tragic paraglider accidents.

In January, two foreign paragliders, Thomas Lednik from the Czech Republic and Kimberly Ann Pace from the USA, died after their paraglider collapsed, causing them to fall down the rocky Kerio escarpment near Kipka village in Keiyo North sub-county.

The same month, a paragliding enthusiast from Germany died on the same escarpment after his paraglider malfunctioned mid-air, leading to the suspension of paragliding activities in the county for safety audits.

Mr Laurens told police in Iten on Wednesday that they flew towards Nyaru village in Keiyo South sub-county, where they landed seamlessly, but he suddenly lost radio and mobile phone contact with his wife.

Elgeyo Marakwet Police Commander Peter Mulinge confirmed the tragedy and said investigations were underway.

Mulinge said the couple had arrived in Kenya on January 17 as tourists.

He added that the French national died while receiving treatment at the Intensive Care Unit at Iten County Referral Hospital.

“It was established that the deceased’s parachute had a puncture and blew out, causing her to fall. It was further established that the two entered Kenya on January 17, 2026, as tourists and were due to depart on January 31, 2026,” the police commander said.

According to the police chief, Laurens decided to land his parachute in Iten town to establish the whereabouts of his wife after losing radio and phone contact.

“After landing in Iten, he tried to raise her again on radio, which was answered by a stranger who informed him that she had been involved in an accident and was being rushed to Iten County Referral Hospital,” he said.

Mr Mulinge added: “He rushed to the hospital and found his wife being attended to with a pelvic fracture, internal bleeding and low blood pressure. She later died while receiving treatment at the hospital’s ICU. The body has been preserved at the hospital mortuary pending transfer to Lee Funeral Home in Nairobi.”