One Danish tourist dies after falling off balloon in Cappadocia

A hot air balloon flies over Turkey's Cappadocia region in this file photo. / AA Photo
A Danish tourist has died on Feb. 18 after he fell of a hot air balloon in Turkey’s Cappadocia region while the balloon was making a bumpy landing due to strong winds.

54-year-old Jensen Benny Karl boarded a hot air balloon together with 20 other customers, who were mostly tourists, at around 8:30 a.m. (5:30 a.m. GMT) in Turkey’s Central Anatolian province of Nevşehir, where the Cappadocia region is located.

While the balloon started descending to land at the Karadağ region in Nevşehir’s Göreme district, they had to make a bumpy landing due to strong winds, Turkey’s Transportation, Maritime and Communications Ministry said in a statement on Feb. 18.

Karl let go of a handle inside the balloon customers need to hold and fell off the balloon’s basket, the statement said. He hit his head on the rocks and experienced major fractures in his body.

He succumbed to his injuries on Feb. 18 at a hospital he was brought by an emergency service.
An accident investigation team of the ministry was dispatched to the scene, the statement added.