A hot air balloon carrying 16 people crashed in central Texas after catching fire in the air Saturday morning, said the Federal Aviation Administration. According to the County Sheriff's Office, there were no survivors in the crash near Lockhart, about 30 miles south of Austin.
According to sources as told to CNN, the balloon may have struck power lines. Cadwell County Judge Ken Schawe said the information about the cause is still very limited but it appears that the balloon collided with a power line before catching fire and crashing to the ground.
The Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides is the company involved in the crash. According to the company, balloon flights originate in several locations in central Texas and go to dozens of destinations at $399 per passenger.
The area where in happened was between Austin and San Antonio and is popular for weekend excursions such as ballooning or skydiving.
The National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson held a brief news conference near the scene Saturday afternoon, saying the accident involved a "significant loss of life," though he did not give an exact number.
If there are actually 16 fatalities, it would be an unprecedented death toll for a hot air balloon crash in the United States. The highest number of deaths in a single hot balloon crash in the country before Sunday was six. According to the NSTB, it was from the 1993 accident in Colorado.
In 2013, 19 people died in a hot air balloon crash in Egypt, near the ancient city of Luxor. That was the world's most fatal hot air balloon accident in at least 20 years.
Source: CNN
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