Hopes are fading for a Brazilian priest who went missing while trying to break the world record for flying with party balloons.
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As his former flying instructor described the disappearance as a "tragedy foretold," Father Adelir Antonio de Carli, 42, seems poised to join a long list of people who have become victims of their own over-ambitious stunts.
Father de Carli has not been seen since he took off from the town of Parana on Sunday in a contraption made of 1,000 helium balloons and a chair.
Rescuers have since found a cluster of multi-coloured balloons floating off the coast of Southern Brazil prompting fears that the priest died out at sea.
Paragliding instructor Marcio Andre Lichtnow, who gave courses to Father de Carli three years ago, described him as a "headstrong, anxious individual who was always in a rush."
"After two or three months, I asked him to abandon the course because of these personality traits, which are not the ideal profile for a paraglider," Lichtnow told The Associated Press. "So what happened comes as no big surprise."
The priest's death would make him an immediate contender for the annual Darwin Awards, a tongue-in-cheek prize given out posthumously to the person who has lost their life in the most ridiculous fashion.
However, rescuers are still hoping they can keep Father de Carli off the list by finding him alive floating in the ocean or resting on a beach or forest-covered mountain along the coast.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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