At least eight people were killed on Saturday in a tourist region of southern Brazil when a hot-air balloon caught fire in the sky and crashed to the ground, state authorities said.
They said the remaining 13 people onboard survived the crash, which occurred in a rural part of Praia Grande, a municipality in the state of Santa Catarina that is popular for hot-air balloon excursions over dramatic canyon landscapes.
The balloon, carrying 21 people including the pilot, caught fire while in the air and plummeted to the earth shortly after 8 a.m. local time, according to the state’s military fire brigade. Survivors were being treated in nearby hospitals, according to a spokesman for the brigade.
On Saturday morning, some 20 firefighters and seven vehicles were searching the area around the crash site, and the police were investigating the cause.
Tiago Luiz Lemos, a spokesman for the police in Praia Grande, told local news media that the balloon’s pilot, who survived, had reported that the fire started inside the gondola carrying the passengers, with a sudden flame in the burner equipment that is used to ignite it.
“He started lowering the balloon. When the balloon was quite close to the ground, he ordered people to jump from the basket,” said Mr. Lemos. “Some people weren’t able to jump off.”
Jorginho Mello, the state’s governor, called the crash a “tragedy” and said the authorities would investigate. “We are in mourning,” he said in a video posted to social media. “We will watch how it unfolds, what happened, why it happened.”
In a statement, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil expressed his “solidarity with the families of the victims” and said that federal and state resources would be put toward the rescue efforts.
The crash comes less than a week after a balloon carrying 30 people fell in São Paulo state, killing one person and injuring 11 others.
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