Austrian parachutist Felix Baumgartner, a 56-year-old known lover of extreme sports, died during his vacation in Italy.
The fatal accident occurred in Porto Sant’Elpidio, near Fermo, around 4:00 PM local time. Baumgartner (56 years old) was paragliding when he suddenly felt unwell, lost control of the vehicle, crashed, and died, as reported by La Repubblica.
After his final flight, the Austrian champion fell into a resort pool by the coast, hitting a girl who was injured as well due to the impact. Her life is not in danger.
Following the accident, Baumgartner lost consciousness and went into cardiac arrest. Rescuers called for an air ambulance for urgent transport to the "Torrette" hospital in Ancona, but he was not loaded onto the helicopter as his heart had stopped beating.
According to initial reports, the athlete was already deceased at the moment of impact, as stated by Corriere della Sera.
Baumgartner was on vacation in Marches, as indicated in a post he made on Facebook five days ago. "Greetings, holidaying in flight from Fermo, Italy. Where are you going on vacation this year?" he wrote alongside a vacation photo.
Mihaela Radulescu's partner was known worldwide for his extreme achievements.
Baumgartner made history in extreme sports, especially with his stratosphere jump on October 14, 2012, when he launched from an altitude of 38,969 meters. He became the first person to break the sound barrier in freefall. He set three world records: the highest altitude ever reached by a manned balloon, the freefall jump from the highest altitude, and the highest speed achieved by a person in freefall, which was 1,357.6 km/h.
T.D.