Share and Follow
Renowned daredevil Felix Baumgartner, known for his record-breaking feats — notably a 24-mile skydive from the edge of space in 2012 — has passed away in a paragliding accident in Italy, as per local media reports.
The 56-year-old Austrian extreme sports enthusiast is said to have fallen ill while maneuvering a motorized paraglider in the Italian coastal town of Porto Sant’Elpidio, resulting in a crash into a hotel swimming pool.
It was reported that he died instantly in the unusual accident. A hotel employee was also injured when struck by the glider and was later taken to the hospital with neck injuries.
Baumgartner’s attention-grabbing stunts included extreme parachuting, BASE jumping and skydiving.
In 1999, he set the world record for the highest parachute jump from a building when he took a leap from the 1,483-foot Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
That same year, he set a record for the lowest BASE jump ever, hurtling himself from the 85-foot arm of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.
His most famous jump was in 2012, when Baumgartner jumped 24 miles from a helium balloon, reaching a top speed of Mach 1.25 (843.6 mph) and becoming the first person to ever break the sound barrier without a vehicle.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.