The Austrian, known for setting the world record for free fall, has died after a paragliding accident.

The case is being updated.

Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner has died after a paragliding accident.

This is reported by several Italian media.

The athlete had been paragliding, but fell ill during the flight, lost control of the craft, crashed and died, writes La Repubblica.

The accident occurred in Porto Sant'Elpidio in Italy.

A young woman was also reportedly injured in the accident, but she is not seriously injured, writes the Il Resto del Carlino newspaper.

Stratospheric jump

Baumgartner was born in Salzburg, Austria, in 1969. Since he was 16, he has been skydiving and base jumping, aiming ever higher and faster.

He is best known for setting the world record for free fall, a jump that began in the stratosphere. He jumped from an altitude of 39,043 meters over the state of New Mexico in the western United States.

Within the first 40 seconds, he accelerated to nearly 1,000 kilometers per hour. It took more than four minutes before he landed on the ground.

With this jump, he broke Joseph Kittinger's record, who jumped from a height of 31,333 meters in 1960.