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At least one dead and two missing in Virginia hot-air balloon accident
Two dead and one missing in Virginia hot-air balloon accident
(about 4 hours later)
The body of one occupant of a hot-air balloon that caught fire and crashed has been recovered as police searched on Saturday for two others feared dead, Virginia State Police said.
Two people were killed and another missing after a hot air balloon hit a power line and caught fire over Virginia during a festival, police said on Saturday.
The three were in a balloon on Friday night that witnesses said crashed amid screams for help.
Authorities have not identified the victims and were conducting a search in the air and with more than 100 people on the ground for the third person who was in the balloon's basket at the time of the Friday evening accident, about 30 miles north of Richmond.
The body was found in a heavily wooded area shortly before midnight, state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said on Saturday. The balloon and gondola carrying the pilot and two passengers have not been found, she said.
"We still have not located the basket or the balloon. We do continue to keep finding debris and various items that would have been on the hot air balloon," Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller told a televised news conference.
Because of the time elapsed since the crash, which occurred about 8pm Friday, the search for two other occupants has shifted from a rescue to a recovery operation, Geller said. More searchers were called in on Saturday.
She said there were eyewitness reports that two people were seen tumbling from the basket after the balloon caught fire, but said it was unclear if they fell or jumped.
Police received eyewitness reports that two occupants either fell or jumped from the burning balloon after it struck the power line.
Two other balloons had landed at a designated landing site before the accident with the third balloon, Geller said.
Carrie Hager-Bradley said she saw the balloon in flames on her way home from the grocery store and heard people yelling, according to WWBT TV.
A first body was found in a heavily wooded area shortly before midnight, Geller said earlier on Saturday. The balloon and gondola carrying the pilot and two passengers had not been found, she said.
"They were just screaming for anybody to help them," the station quoted her as saying. "'Help me, help me, sweet Jesus, help. I'm going to die. Oh my God, I'm going to die,'" Hager-Bradley said she heard one person screaming.
Witnesses posted photos online showing a balloon in mid-air with its basket engulfed in flames and a trail of smoke spilling into the sky.
The crash occurred near the Meadow Event Park in rural Caroline County, where the Mid-Atlantic Balloon Festival was being held. The area is about 15 miles north of Richmond.
Many said there was an explosion as it hit the line and the balloon then separated from the basket carrying the passengers. People on the ground could hear screams from those in the balloon, witnesses said.
The festival was scheduled to begin officially on Saturday, but was holding a special kickoff event Friday for a limited number of people. Organisers canceled the rest of the festival.
"They were just screaming for anybody to help them," resident Carrie Hager-Bradley told a local NBC affiliate.
Some hot air balloons landed safely in Debra Ferguson's yard, the Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg reported.
"'Help me, help me, sweet Jesus, help. I'm going to die. Oh my God, I'm going to die,'" Hager-Bradley said she heard one person screaming.
She said one of the men in the balloons pointed up at another still in the air and said he thought it might be in trouble.
More than 20 hot-air balloon teams from across the US were to take part at the Meadow Event Park in Caroline County. The Saturday and Sunday events were canceled.
"As soon as we looked up, the thing blew up right there," Ferguson told the newspaper. "All I heard was, 'Oh my God, Oh my God,' and all you saw was the top of the balloon still flying, but all of the basket was gone. All of the flames just disappeared. ... It was like a match – poof – and then it was gone."
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the accident.
Caroline County resident Paula Dustin said she and her family and a friend were watching the balloons inflate and take off when they saw one in the distance that appeared to be in distress.
"We saw a glow, and you could tell the bottom of the balloon was in flames," Dustin was quoted by the newspaper as saying.
