Felix Baumgartner, daredevil who jumped from edge of space, dies aged 56

He became a global sensation in 2012

The Austrian stuntman achieved global fame back in 2012 when he broke the world record for the highest skydive ever, falling from the edge of space at a height of 39km (128,000 ft).

The news of the 56-year-old's death was announced yesterday following a motorised paragliding accident in Italy.

Baumgartner is believed to have suffered a mid-air medical emergency, causing him to crash his vehicle into a swimming pool of a hotel in the village of Porto Sant'Elpidio in the eastern Marche region.

The Mayor of Porto Sant'Elpidio's, Massimiliano Ciarpella, described Baumgartner as "a symbol of courage and passion for extreme flights".

Tributes poured in for the legendary daredevil in his final social media posts, one notably of him working on the motor of his paraglider.

Thanks to a high-octane career, Baumgartner was dubbed "Fearless Felix" and teamed up on multiple occasions with Red Bull to bring many of his stunts to life.

In 1999 he set one of his first records for the world's lowest base jump, from the 30m (98ft) high hand of Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue.

Later that year, he set a world record for the highest parachute jump when he launched himself from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

In 2003 he went on to complete a cross-channel flight in a special jumpsuit with carbon-fibre wings.

However, Baumgartner , was of course best known for his space jump.

In 2012, following his jump he said to press: "When I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble.

"You don't think about breaking records anymore, you don't think about gaining scientific data, the only thing that you want is to come back alive."