BEIJING: A Chinese man has been rescued after floating in the air for over per day after he lost control of a hydrogen balloon that he had been riding to collect pine nuts, condition media reported.
The man, identified as Hu Yongxu, have been picking pine cones in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province last Sunday (Sep 4) with a fellow employee when the balloon “suddenly rose uncontrollably”, standard broadcaster CCTV reported Tuesday.
Hu’s colleague jumped out of the basket in time but Hu got trapped, beginning a nerve-wracking, 300km journey in the air.
Hu instantly called his brother-in-law, saying he had been scared of the elevation and that “everything he or she saw looked like ants”, according to an interview with the brother-in-law by state-run Zhejiang Daily upon Wednesday.
Video clip from multiple Chinese media outlets demonstrated a pale balloon bobbing in the sky over pine forests.
CCTV said police made contact with Hu the following day, plus instructed him over the phone on how to properly deflate and lower the balloon.
Hu landed successfully in a forested region, but rescuers carried on to search for him because his “phone area service was inaccurate”, CCTV said.
Hu was lastly rescued on Wednesday morning, and is “in good condition, aside from lighting injuries on his back”, CCTV reported.