The guy is in a hot air balloon, with other French stamp collectors travelling through the desert. The balloon starts losing altitude and in an effort to gain height, the passengers start throwing all their belongings - including the clothes they are wearing over the side.
This doesn't work, so they "draw straws" using (match) sticks to see who has to jump over the side. The guy loses, and died when he hit the ground, still holding the ?'short stick'.