Free Republic

An Air Force member has died from injuries he suffered on Saturday while rappelling from the ceiling of the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, as part of a college football pre-game ceremony honoring the Armed Forces and military veterans, authorities said. The incident occurred just before kickoff between Navy and the University of Texas at San Antonio. "Once the band started playing, there was a guy that fell down," witness Adrian Corey, one of more than 23,000 people who attended the game, told ABC San Antonio affiliate station KSAT. The airman was identified as Sgt. Ian Patterson, assigned to the...

Gobright was best known for free soloing, or climbing without any safety gear, but at the time the two were rappelling, a technique using ropes. Climbers descend a rock face by using a doubled rope coiled around the body but the method is described by experts as one of the most common causes of deaths in the sport. "We started rapping," Mr Jacobson told the Outside website. "I was a bit above him. I was on the left. He was on the right. Then all of a sudden, I felt a pop, and we started dropping."

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Muslim leaders are concerned about their community's safety after someone saw a man rappelling from the roof of a city mosque. A witness in the Islamic Center of Bloomington to pray Saturday heard footsteps on the roof and spotted the man climbing down the building's roof around 6 a.m. After the man shimmied down the side of the building, he got into a Jeep with two other men and drove away, police said. "Because of the sophistication and apparent specialized training of the intruder, we are again concerned about the safety of the Muslim community," said Islamic...