At least eight dead in hot air balloon accident in Brazil

(BBC) At least eight people have died in a hot air balloon accident in Brazil, a state governor has said. There were 21 people on board the balloon in the city of Praia Grande on Saturday morning, Governor of Santa Catarina Jorginho Mello said in a post on X.

Thirteen people, including the pilot, survived and no one is missing, the state government press office said.

It added that the balloon had crashed near a health centre.

“According to the pilot, who is one of the survivors, a fire started inside the basket, so he started to lower the balloon, and when the balloon was very close to the ground he told people to jump,” officer Tiago Luiz Lemos, from the Praia Grande police station, told reporters at the scene.

“They started to jump, but some people did not manage to. The flames started to grow and because of the weight, the balloon began to rise again.

“It later fell because of a loss of suspension.”

The state government press office said 13 survivors were taken to nearby hospitals.

In a video also posted on X, Mello, who is on an official mission in China, said he had sent “the entire state structure” to “rescue, help and comfort the families” and was continuing to monitor the situation.

“We are in mourning, what happened is a tragedy,” he added.

“We will investigate why this happened. But the important thing now is to do everything possible to reach out to the people and the families.”

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva posted on X expressing his “solidarity with the families of the victims”.

He said he had placed “the federal government at the disposal of the victims” and that “state and municipal forces ” were working on the rescue and care of the survivors.

Praia Grande is in southern Santa Catarina and is a popular tourist destination. The city is known for its ballooning activities.