Chinese man trapped aloft in hydrogen balloon for 2 days
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese state media say a man has been found safe after he spent two days aloft in a hydrogen balloon, traveling about 320 kilometers (200 miles), after it became untethered and flew away while he was using it to harvest pine nuts from a tree. The man and a partner were collecting pine nuts on Sunday in a forest park in northeastern China when they lost control and the balloon sailed off. The other person jumped to the ground, and a search was launched for the escaped balloon. State broadcaster CCTV says rescuers were able to contact the man by cellphone the following morning and instructed him to slowly deflate the balloon to land safely. It took another day before he reached the ground.
