Felix Baumgartner has died in a skydiving accident, reports the Repubblica. The 56-year-old Austrian paraglider fell ill while paragliding, lost control of his vehicle and fell into the pool of a hotel in Porto Sant’Elpidio. A young woman was also injured in the accident, the newspaper reported.
Baumgartner was vacationing in Fermo, the accident occurred not far from the Marche city.
The Italian newspaper cites a report from Il Resto del Carlino, which states that after the fall, the athlete lost consciousness and his heart stopped.
Extreme athlete Baumgartner became known to the world in 2012 when he ascended to an altitude of 39 kilometers, i.e. to the edge of space, in the Red Bull Stratos expedition using a balloon, jumped out of there, and descended with a parachute.
Following his stratospheric jump, which took five years of preparation, Baumgartner announced his retirement from extreme sports because there was nothing greater he could achieve.