Questions centre on ‘conflicting reports’
PJ police are investigating a “mysterious death” linked to a hot air balloon trip over the Alqueva reservoir.
According to the girlfriend of the 55-man-who died, the incident followed ‘a change of wind’ in which the balloon actually came down in the reservoir, resulting in all the passengers in the basket “getting their feet wet”.
The balloon came down “close to the shore” Alexandra Santos appears to have told Lusa news agency, but started drifting further into the reservoir – at which point the pilot suggested that some of the passengers get out to pull the basket to shore.
Her boyfriend thus left the basket, ending up out of his depth.
The balloon reportedly managed to rise out of the water, only to land once again – closer to the shore – before finally coming to rest in an olive grove.
The man’s body was later found by the shore by an employee of the balloon tour company, which has reportedly refused to answer journalists’ questions.
The ‘other reports’ however – attributed to “other witnesses” (no indication as to whether these are fellow passengers in the balloon, or employees of the ballon tour company) – claim the man “felt unwell, and asked the pilot to interrupt the trip and touch down.
“The balloonist agreed, and the man got out (of the basket) on his own”, explains Correio da Manhã, giving no further details as to whether this means the balloonist touched down on the water, and let the man climb out of the basket into the reservoir (which itself makes little sense).
A source from the Alentejo Central Sub-Regional Emergency and Civil Protection Command has confirmed that the incident was reported at 10.19am yesterday.
Tiago Ramos, from the Mourão Municipal Civil Protection Service, told Lusa that when firefighters arrived at the scene, they found the body on the bank of the reservoir.
Ramos also confirmed that the victim’s body had been found by an employee of the hot air balloon company, who had raised the alarm.
The tourist trip had begun in the Monsaraz area, in the neighbouring municipality of Reguengos de Monsaraz. There were reportedly 13 people taking part (numbers given by Correio da Manhã: Lusa/ SIC puts the total at ’10 passengers and the pilot’).
Rescue operations mobilised a total of 18 operatives from the Mourão Fire Brigade, the National Institute for Medical Emergencies (INEM) and the GNR, supported by nine vehicles.
Alexandra Santos meantime has given her version of the tragedy to PJ police. In her statements to Lusa, she pointed out that there were no life jackets available to passengers, which itself is questionable considering the flight involved passing over such a large body of water. ND
Source material: LUSA/ SIC Notícias/ Correio da Manhã
