Incident in Alqueva: what is already known (and much that is unknown) about the death of a man after starting a balloon trip

Little is known about what may have happened to the man who was found lifeless in the Alqueva reservoir, after starting a tourist trip aboard a hot air balloon, in Monsaraz. INEM, through its spokesperson, Cátia Alves, told Expresso that the call for help was received at 10:22 am, for “a man fallen in the water”. INEM “activated the Mourão Volunteer Firefighters, the Moura Immediate Life Support Ambulance and the Évora Emergency and Resuscitation Medical Vehicle, which verified the death at the scene”.

To Expresso, the commander of the Mourão Fire Department, Fábio Quintas, explained that the request “it was made with the indication that a man had thrown himself from the balloon into the water, but this was not confirmed by the testimonies”. And he added that, when he arrived at the scene, the GNR was already there. At this time, he is not authorized to provide further information.

The GNR requested the intervention of the Judiciary Police, as “The testimonies of those on board the balloon do not agree on what happened, so it is difficult to understand whether it was an accident, homicide or suicide”, the police spokesperson, Mafalda Almeida, explained to Expresso.

The same person responsible confirms that the man was accompanied, as reported in several media outlets, without confirming the type of family relationship with the victim. The Judiciary Police, confirmed advisor Ana Timóteo, is investigating, as is usual when the reasons that may have led to death are unknown. Lusa says that the man is 55 years old, but Fábio Quintas says that the indication he has is that he will be between 40 and 45 years old.

None of the spokespeople have any memory of a similar case.

The GNR Territorial Command of Évora told the news agency that the man was still inside the balloon when, feeling unwell, he asked to leave, having been left on the bank of the Alqueva reservoir. To Lusa, Tiago Ramos, from the Mourão Municipal Civil Protection Service, said that the victim’s body was found by “an employee of the hot air balloon company”, and later by firefighters, “on the other side of the bank” from Monsaraz, where the trip had begun.

Lusa tried to contact the company that owns the hot air balloon, but several attempts proved unsuccessful.