Public Ministry opens investigation into man’s death during balloon ride

The Attorney General’s Office (PGR), in response to questions posed by the Lusa agency, via email, limited itself to revealing the initiation of the investigation, which is carried out by the Public Ministry of Reguengos de Monsaraz.

Also contacted by Lusa, a source from the Évora Local Criminal Investigation Unit (ULIC) of the Judiciary Police (PJ) indicated that this police continue to investigate the case, pending an autopsy on the deceased victim.

“The result of the autopsy will be important to clarify what happened”, highlighted the source.

While awaiting the results of the autopsy, he said, inspectors from the PJ of Évora continue to carry out investigations and listen to witnesses.

According to the same source, The man’s body is in the Évora Medical-Legal Office, in the hospital in the Alentejo city, and an autopsy should be carried out in the next few days.

The circumstances surrounding the death of the 55-year-old man are being investigated by the Judiciary Police.

Girlfriend tells what happened

On Sunday, speaking to Lusa, the girlfriend of the man who ended up dying, Alexandra Santos, who accompanied him on the tourist tour, said that This passenger will have left the hot air balloon basket into the water after ditching.

“The balloon started to tilt towards the water, because of the winds, and, at the speed we were going, the pilot didn’t have a chance either and we hit the water, but very close to the shore. We all got wet feet”, reported.

However, continued Alexandra Santos, the aerial vehicle “continued to move” towards the interior of the reservoir, with the pilot then suggesting that some passengers “go outside to pull the basket to land”.

The man, who would end up dying, then entered the water, “the balloon rose” and “hit the water again”, for the second time, now “further away from the shore”, this witness highlighted.

“No one saw it standing up, but it was close to the shore when we last saw it,” he said, indicating that the hot air balloon then landed in an olive grove.

On Sunday, Tiago Ramos, from the Mourão Municipal Civil Protection Service, simply told Lusa that the firefighters, when they arrived at the scene, found the body next to the banks of the reservoir.

Previously, according to this person in charge, the victim’s body had been found by “an employee of the hot air balloon company”, who gave the alert.

This tourist trip had started in the Monsaraz area, in the neighboring municipality of Reguengos de Monsaraz, also located in the district of Évora.