Bodies of missing balloonists found

It was on September the 25th that Richard Abruzzo and Carol Davis set off from Bristol, in the west of England, with 19 other balloonists in the 54th Gordon Bennett Gas Balloon race. The aim of the race is to see who can fly the furthest. Five days later the pair, who were highly experienced, radioed the port authorities in the Italian city of Brindisi to say they were in difficulties. They spoke of the balloon falling quickly. Contact was lost soon after. Search crews using ships and aircraft spent a week looking for them. But now, more than two months later, a fishing boat has found their basket with the remains of the couple inside. Documents with them confirmed their identities. The authorities believe their balloon could've been
struck by lightning, and may have hit the water at 80 km an hour.

九月二十五號當天，Richard Abruzzo 及 Carol Davis 從位於英格蘭西部的 Bristol 出發，與其他十九位熱氣球選手一起參加第五十四屆的Gordon Bennett Gas熱氣球大賽。這場比賽的目標是看誰能夠飛得最遠。五天後同行的兩人當中經驗豐富的選手以無線電通知義大利境內的Brindisi市的塔台，說它們正面臨危險的處境，氣球正急速的下降當中，通訊很快就消失了。救難隊使用船及輕航機花了一個禮拜的時間尋找他們。而現在，超過兩個月後的今天，一艘漁船發現他們的熱氣球籃子及它們的遺體，在身上的文件證實遺體應是二位熱氣球選手。當局判定他們應是在飛行的途中遭受雷擊，並可能以高達時速八十公里的速度墜入水面。