David Blaine looked thin and was clearly emotional as he left the box

England have

The American illusionist David Blaine has his feet back on solid ground after ending 44 days suspended in a glass box by the River Thames in London without food.

The feat of endurance has attracted huge crowds over the last six weeks, and an estimated 10,000 people were there to see him come out.

There was little sign of the "Blaine-baiters" who have dogged the entertainer for the duration of his stunt, jeering, throwing eggs and cutting his water supply.

At 2200 BST the crane which has held the perspex box above the river since 5 September slowly lowered it to the waiting fans, and it was tipped up gently to help him get out.

Despite apparently going without any food for so long, 30-year-old David Blaine was able to walk from the box, supported by helpers.

He looked thin and was clearly emotional.

He broke down in tears as he told the waiting crowd, "This has been one of the most important experiences in my life."

The magician has described suffering severe heart palpitations, blurred vision and breathing difficulties as his fast neared its end.

He was put on a stretcher by paramedics and taken to a private hospital, where a team of doctors will assess whether he has done lasting damage to his heart or other organs.

His spokesman said he would now gradually build up his strength with mineral supplements.

It is thought it could take as long as six months for Mr Blaine to recover and return to normal fitness.

His stunt has attracted praise and contempt in equal measures.

Christine Hunt, 44, who travelled from Doncaster in Yorkshire, said, "We've already been down once to see him and I think it's brilliant, what he's doing."

But others have taunted him relentlessly, even sending a burger up to the box on a remote-controlled helicopter.

Mr Blaine's team has dismissed suggestions that he has kept himself alive by having dissolved nutrients such as glucose added to his water supply.

The stunt is the latest in a series of bizarre challenges the magician has set himself.

Previous stunts include standing on a 100ft pole for 35 hours, living for a week buried six feet down in a glass tank, and encasing himself in a six-tonne block of ice for more than 60 hours. 

Two crashes within five months of each other have grounded all Comet jets

The first crash happened in January, when 29 passengers and a crew of six lost their lives off the Italian island of Elba.

The Comet's certificate of airworthiness was withdrawn after the second crash, just three months later. Fourteen passengers and seven crew died when the plane went down off the coast near Naples.

The Attorney General, Sir Lionel Heald QC, told the first day of the inquiry that initial suspicions of sabotage were unfounded.

He said the painstaking analysis of thousands of fragments of the Comet involved in the Elba crash had revealed that the damage was caused by a fault in the plane itself.

In what Sir Lionel called "one of the most remarkable pieces of scientific detective work ever done", a team led by Sir Arnold Hall, director of the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, subjected models, full-size aircraft and replicas to the most elaborate and searching tests ever carried out on an airliner.

One fragment collected from the scene of the crash showed that a crack had developed due to metal fatigue near the radio direction finding aerial window, situated in the front of the cabin roof.

The investigators found that a small weakness such as this would quickly deteriorate under pressure, and would rapidly lead to a sudden and general break-up of the fuselage.

In tests on another Comet aircraft, Sir Lionel added, the investigators had found that up to 70% of the aircraft's ultimate stress under pressure was concentrated on the corners of the aircraft's windows.

Sir Lionel said the findings of the investigation would lead to a general improvement in the safety of passenger air travel.

"It will perhaps be some consolation to the relatives of those who lost their lives to feel that good may come out of evil in this way," he added.

perspex: a transparent thermoplastic acrylic resin（塑胶玻璃）

palpitation:a rapid and irregular heart beat（心悸）

sabotage: destroy property or hinder normal operations（阴谋破坏）