Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, who crossed the Pacific on a balsa raft and the Atlantic in a reed vessel, died today of cancer, his son told reporters.
He was 87. Heyerdahl, who won worldwide acclaim with his 1947 voyage across the Pacific on a replica of an aboriginal balsa raft called Kon-Tiki, died in a family home at Colla Micheri in northern Italy.
He had been suffering from a cancer that had spread to his brain despite surgery last year. He had been admitted to hospital at Easter.