A Florida kite surfer was killed after high winds swept him into the air and launched him into the side of a building.
The tragic moment happened Wednesday at around 10 AM in Ft. Lauderdale, Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Stephen Gollan said.
Surveillance footage, obtained by WTVJ, shows the man struggled with his kite on the beach as winds kicked up … before the gusts eventually lifted him into the air and took him from the sand through some palm trees.
The wind eventually carried the man — later ID’ed as 61-year-old Fred Salter — into the side of a home … where he crashed to the ground and suffered major injuries, Gollan said.
Gollan added that Salter was rushed to the Broward Health Medical Center in critical condition … but died hours later.
“He was attempting to kitesurf in the ocean behind the address here, actually, just two doors down, when strong winds came into the area unexpectedly, and he was not able to release from the kite in a timely manner,” Gollan said, according to WSVN.
“So we went from relatively calm conditions to extremely dangerous conditions in a short period of time.”
Gollan later said he believed the wind gusts that carried Salter away kicked up to over 40 MPH.
According to Salter’s friends, he was a father, grandfather, cancer survivor and an experienced kite surfer.
#RIP
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