Austrian extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner died Thursday when skiing in Italy, the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Italian fire brigade confirmed to the DPA, and Italian authorities confirmed to the DPA.
They said the 56-year-old made international headlines in 2012 for his historic skydiving, crashed at a beachfront resort on the Adriatic coast.
Baumgartner crashed into the swimming pool in the municipal accommodation neighborhood around 4 p.m. (1400 GMT) and died immediately, the fire brigade said. Suspected that he fainted and lost control of the electric paraglider.
The fire brigade added that the extreme athlete fell on a hotel employee who was taken to the hospital due to injuries.
Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta Dello Sport said the employee was not seriously injured. According to Italian media reports, several guests were in the hotel pool at the time, but were not injured in the accident.
Baumgartner became world famous in 2012, when he became the first to freely descend from the stratosphere jump.
Millions of people watched on TV and online, he fell into the depths, reaching a maximum speed of more than 1,300 kilometers per hour, and set a record of the highest manned Balonian flight and highest parachute.
Baumgartner reportedly went on vacation in Italy with his wife when he died.
