The hot air balloon sets on fire and falls in Brazil, killing at least 8 people

A hot air balloon caught fire and fell from the sky on Saturday in the southern state of Brazil of Santa Catarina, killing eight people, authorities said, adding that three of the victims were found that they held each other.

The images shared by the local media G1 showed smoke wave from the globe, which was on fire while rushing towards the ground in the municipality of Praia Grande.

In a video on social networks, you can see two people falling through the air while the fire spread aboard the plane.

Thirteen people survived and were taken to hospitals, said the Military Fire Brigade of Santa Catarina, adding that 21 people were on board, including the pilot.

The accident occurred around 8 am local time, said Lieutenant Colonel Zevir Cipriano Jr., a military firefighter. A fire began in the basket, which led the pilot to try to land the globe.

Thirteen people, including the pilot, managed to jump, but eight could not. Without the weight of others, the globe began to increase again.

“These people ended up dying: four carbonized and four others jumped from the globe when it fell,” said Cipriano Jr.

Ulisses Gabriel, head of the Civil Police of Santa Catarina, said on social networks that three people died hugging. “The soul hurts,” he wrote.

“We are in mourning. A tragedy has happened. We will see how it develops, what happened, why it happened. But the important thing is that the state structure does what you can,” said Governor Jorginho Mello in a video about X.

Mello said he has asked the authorities to go to the municipality “to do everything possible to rescue, help, take to the hospital, comfort families.”

The authorities of the Hospital Nuestra Señora de Fatima said that the five survivors treated there, three were in stable condition with minor wounds and two had already been discharged, Agenze France-Presse said. Information about other survivors was not available immediately.

The president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, expressed his solidarity with the families of the victims and said he was placing the federal government available to victims and local authorities.

G1 reported that the expected flight time of the globe was 45 minutes, with the globe reaching 3,280 feet, and cost around $ 100 per passenger.

Survar, the company responsible for the multicolored globe, said it met all regulations and had a clean accident history before Saturday.

“Despite all the necessary precautions and efforts of our pilot, which has extensive experience and followed all the recommended procedures in an attempt to save everyone aboard the globe, we suffer the pain caused by this tragedy,” he said in a statement.

Survar added that it was suspending all operations for an indefinite period.

Praia Grande is a common destination for the hot air balloon, a popular activity in parts of southern Brazil. The area is famous for its dramatic canyon landscapes and is known as the “Brazilian capadocia”, a reference to a region in the center of famous Turkey worldwide through impressive hot air balloon walks.

Last Sunday, a balloon was reduced in the state of Sao Paulo, killing a 27 -year -old woman and wounding 11 other people, G1 reported.

There have been several fatal accidents of aerostatic balloon in other parts in recent years.

Last year, Four people were killed When a hot air balloon crashed in Arizona. Also in 2024, a The man fell to his death From a hot air balloon when it passed on Melbourne, Australia.

In 2023, Two people died And a girl was injured after the hot air balloon in which they were traveling burning near Mexico City.

In 2021, five people died after a Hot air balloon crashed in electric lines In Albuquerque, New Mexico.

• Brazil
• Fatal accident