A 20-year-old man was killed Tuesday, after having fallen from a hot air balloon onto a running vehicle in northern Israel.
According to the preliminary investigation being held by both the police and the Civil Aviation Authority, Cohen Yogev was part of the staff readying the balloon for take off, though it remains unclear why he was holding onto the balloon’s basket as it ascended.
Photos showed the man mid-air, clutching the red-and-white basket. Police said he fell onto a road in the north of the country from a height of about 100 meters (330 ft).
The balloon's pilot landed the craft safely.
One of the Magen David Adom paramedics who arrived at the scene shortly after the incident, said: "When we arrived we saw an unconscious man in the middle of the road with a very severe multi-systemic injury. He was not breathing and without a pulse.”
The man dangling from the hot air balloon
“We performed medical tests but had no choice but to determine his death. At a distance of about 150 meters, we saw the vehicle on the side of the road that suffered the hit. The occupants of the vehicle did not need treatment,” the paramedic added.
Slava Bonchuk, a police officer who arrived at the scene, said: ”We started collecting testimonies from the pilot. the vehicle passengers, eyewitnesses, and people who were in the balloon basket.”
“Apparently he is a ground crew member who was supposed to be on the ground and not in the air, who for some unknown reason, found himself hanging onto the balloon.”