A weekend of rest in Alentejo ended in tragedy for a 55-year-old man, who drowned while taking a balloon trip over the Alqueva dam lake, in the Aldeia da Luz area, in Mourão.
George, the victim, resident in the Lisbon area, had already booked the trip months ago to see the sunrise, which companies in the area usually organize between six and eight o’clock. Yesterday, when she was traveling with 11 other passengers and the pilot, the trip ended in the worst way. According to one of the passengers reported to JN, when they were about to land, the wind pushed the balloon into the lake, landing “about two meters” from the shore. The pilot then asked some of the men to get into the water to push the basket to shore. Still according to the same testimony, George and another man began to take off part of their clothes to enter the water, but before they did so, the balloon unexpectedly rose again, “landing a second time, but about 20 meters from the bank”.
It was at that point that the pilot “told the two men who should have already entered the water” to push the basket ashore. The two entered the water, but the balloon rose again. The other passenger got into the basket, but George was no longer able to do so.
The same source says that as the balloon rose, it was still possible to see George trying to swim to shore, but they quickly stopped seeing him. “One of the passengers even sent the victim’s location to those responsible for the company who were on the ground, but from then on we had no further information”, he recalls.
Landed in an olive grove
The trip ended with the balloon landing in a private olive grove, which meant that passengers had to walk several meters to reach the van belonging to the balloon company. It was already inside the vehicle that the passengers learned of George’s death.
According to the commander of the Mourão Fire Department, Fábio Quintas, volunteers received an alert, at 10.19 am, for “a victim fallen from a hot air balloon”. The body “was floating about 200 meters from the bank” when the warning reached the barracks. The Mourão Firefighters mobilized an ambulance, a boat and a support vehicle, but when they arrived at the scene the body “was already on the bank”, unaware of the context.
The autopsy will determine the cause of death, but the case was handed over to the Judiciary Police, who yesterday afternoon questioned those responsible for the company, the 12 passengers and the pilot who were inside the basket.
The tour, organized by the company Windpassenger, involved a second balloon, which had no problems. JN contacted the company yesterday, but received no response.
