Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian base jumper and skydiver renowned for his record-breaking jump from the stratosphere, died while paragliding in Italy on Thursday, local media reported.

Extreme sports pioneer Felix Baumgartner, who once broke the world record for the highest skydive by jumping from the edge of space, has died in a paragliding accident in Italy. The 56-year-old Austrian fell to the ground near the swimming pool of a hotel after apparently while flying over Porto Sant'Elpidio in Italy's central Marche region.