VIDEO: Hot air balloon worker falls to death on his first job day

A Chinese student working part-time at a hot air balloon centre fell some 30 feet to his death on his first day in the job.

The accident took place on October 2 in the Youyi Manor hot air balloon camp in Zhuzhou city in southern China’s Hunan Province. The worker was pressing the basket against the ground when the lighter-than-air aircraft took off unexpectedly, dragging him into the air.

According to his employer, he didn’t follow its procedure correctly, resulting in the tragedy.

A related video shows the victim hanging from the side of the basket dozens of feet above the ground.  He falls on the grass as the surrounding crowd screams.

A spokesperson for Lexiang Aviation Sports Club, which runs the camp, said that the victim was a university student. He was hired by the company as a temporary worker to guide tourists and handle on-land tasks during China’s eight-day National Day holiday, which started on October 1, he said.

He received hour-long training before the event occurred, his employer added.

The balloon suddenly ascended because all other basket-pushers had let go unannounced, the spokesperson said, and the victim did not notice that. He stated that the new part-time workers had not “listened carefully” during their training or followed the official process.

“The members of staff in the basket did not notice him either. Therefore the basket floated, bringing the student,” he said and added that the pilot tried to make the balloon go down as soon as they discovered the victim outside.

An ambulance was called one minute after the victim had fallen, and he was pronounced dead.