Horror as contestant in Chinese 'birdman' competition drowns after his hang glider drags him underwater in front of hundreds of spectators

• Tragic Li Weng, 44, drowned in a lake in Hangzhou in Zhejiang province
• Metal frame of his home-made hang glider dragged him beneath the surface
• Witnesses said he was underwater for around 10 minutes

A contestant in a 'Birdman' competition has died after he was dragged underwater by the weight of his hang glider in front of hundreds of horrified spectators.
Li Weng, 44, had hurled himself from a platform above a lake in Hangzhou in China's Zhejiang province, as part of a display to mark local Dragon Boat festival celebrations.
At first spectators cheered when he sunk beneath the surface, thinking it was a joke.

Tragic death: Li Weng,44, launches himself off a platform above a Chinese lake. The weight of his home-made hang glider dragged him underwater and he drowned

But they watched on in horror as he failed to come to the surface and the reality of the situation became apparent.

Organisers staged a full scale rescue when he failed to emerge from the water. Two frogmen were sent down to rescue the man.
Mr Li was eventually hauled to the surface after spending around ten minutes underwater and could no be revived.
'I saw him dive into the water and not come to the surface for seconds. Then I thought he might got drowned,' one witness told the Chinese state news agency.

Mr Li's body is dragged out of the water some ten minutes after he sank below the surface

One rescuer explained: 'His hang glider was home made and hadn't been tested before.'
'We think the frame was too heavy and simply pushed him face down under the water where he couldn't push himself up and he drowned,' he added.
Birdman competitions involve contestants launching themselves off a pontoon some 30 ft above the water on human-powered flying machines to see how far they can fly out.
Some of the contraptions are serious flying machines others are little more than glorified costumes.
The most well known events are the Red Bull Flugtags which take place around the world and draw thousands of spectators.

Too bad or what do you think?