STORY: Austrian extreme sports pioneer Felix Baumgartner, famed for a record-breaking 2012 skydive from the edge of space, died on Thursday (July 17) in a paragliding accident in central Italy, local police said.

He was 56.

Baumgartner lost control of his motorised paraglider while flying over Porto Sant'Elpidio in Italy's central Marche region, and fell to the ground near the swimming pool of a hotel.

The reasons for the accident were unclear.

Porto Sant'Elpidio's mayor, Massimiliano Ciarpella, said reports suggested he may have suffered a sudden medical issue mid-air, and offered the town's condolences for the death of "a symbol of courage and passion for extreme flights."

The Austrian made headlines around the world in October 2012 when, wearing a specially made suit, he jumped from a balloon 24 miles (38 km) above Earth, becoming the first skydiver to break the sound barrier, typically measured at more than 690 mph.

He made the historic jump over Roswell, New Mexico, reaching a peak speed of over 833 mph (1,343 kph), on the 65th anniversary of legendary American pilot Chuck Yeager's flight shattering the sound barrier on October 14, 1947.

The self-styled "God of the Skies" started parachuting as a teenager before taking up the extreme sport of BASE jumping.

His long career of daredevil jumps included skydiving across the English Channel and parachuting off the Petronas Towers in Malaysia.

In Austria he was also known for courting controversy with views that included expressing support for dictatorship as a system of government.

Baumgartner was fined 1,500 euros after he punched a Greek truck driver in the face during a 2010 altercation that broke out in a traffic jam near Salzburg.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: FILE OF AUSTRIAN SKYDIVER, FELIX BAUMGARTNER, JUMPING FROM THE EDGE OF SPACE IN 2012

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: IN SPACE (OCTOBER 14, 2012) (RED BULL STRATOS VNR - Editorial use only. No resales. No commercial use. No monetisation)

1. AUSTRIAN SKYDIVER, FELIX BAUMGARTNER, ON CAPSULE PLATFORM IN SPACE

2. BAUMGARTNER JUMPING FROM CAPSULE

ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO, UNITED STATES (FILE - OCTOBER 14, 2012) (RED BULL STRATOS VNR - Editorial use only. No resales. No commercial use. No monetisation)

3. PREVIOUS RECORD HOLDER, JOE KITTINGER, CELEBRATING

ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO, UNITED STATES (FILE - OCTOBER 14, 2012) (RED BULL STRATOS VNR - Editorial use only. No resales. No commercial use. No monetisation) (MUTE)

4. BAUMGARTNER'S FAMILY CELEBRATING

IN SPACE (FILE - OCTOBER 14, 2012) (RED BULL STRATOS VNR - Editorial use only. No resales. No commercial use. No monetisation)

5. INFRARED CAMERA OF BAUMGARTNER AFTER PARACHUTE WAS RELEASED

ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO, UNITED STATES (FILE - OCTOBER 14, 2012) (RED BULL STRATOS VNR - Editorial use only. No resales. No commercial use. No monetisation)

6. BAUMGARTNER LANDING ON GROUND

7. MISSION CONTROL CELEBRATING

8. BAUMGARTNER'S FAMILY CELEBRATING

9. KITTINGER CELEBRATING AND CLAPPING

10. PEOPLE IN MISSION CONTROL CLAPPING

11. BAUMGARTNER ON GROUND DROPPING TO KNEES AND RAISING FIST

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, UNITED STATES (FILE - OCTOBER 2017) (RED BULL CONTENT POOL - Editorial use only. No resales. No new uses after six months from date content is downloaded from Reuters. No more than 70% of this video content may be used on YouTube. No commercial use. No monetisation)

12. BAUMGARTNER STEPPING INTO THE CAPSULE WHICH TOOK HIM UP TO THE EDGE OF SPACE

13. BAUMGARTNER SITTING IN THE CAPSULE, PRESSING BUTTONS AND FLIPPING SWITCHES

14. BAUMGARTNER'S SUIT ON DISPLAY