Death of Man in Skyscraper Fall in China Puts a Spotlight on ‘Rooftopping’
That was when, the police in China now confirm, Mr. Wu fell to his death from the top of the Huayuan Hua Center, a building
more than 60 stories high, in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, Chinese media reports said recently.
For months, Wu Yongning had climbed towers and buildings high above the streets of cities in China,
turning a camera on himself as he teetered on ledges or clutched an antenna with one hand.
“By climbing on high buildings without taking any safety measures, Wu put himself in danger and pushed himself to his limits, but
that does not mean what he did is a sport,” a report in the China Daily said on Tuesday.
Daniel Cheong, 55, a professional cityscape photographer who lives in Dubai, home of some of the world’s tallest skyscrapers, said
that when he moved to the emirate in 2008 there was a small, informal group of rooftoppers who found each other on social media through their photographs.
Mr. Cheong, who has a photography business in Dubai through which he gains access to rooftops legally, said
that he has been on roofs as high as 100 floors up, fixing his camera equipment to a safety leash.