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| Virginia hot air balloon fire: One dead and two missing after basket crashes into power line | |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| Witnesses have reported hearing screams of “oh my God, I’m going to die” after a hot air balloon carrying three people caught fire during a ballooning festival and went crashing into the ground. | Witnesses have reported hearing screams of “oh my God, I’m going to die” after a hot air balloon carrying three people caught fire during a ballooning festival and went crashing into the ground. |
| Rescue crews in Virginia confirmed they have recovered the body of one of the passengers on board the balloon. Two others are missing, feared dead. | |
| Virginia Police are searching for wreckage after the balloon’s gondola apparently hit a power line and burst into flames during the Mid-Atlantic Balloon Festival at 7.30pm local time on Friday evening. | Virginia Police are searching for wreckage after the balloon’s gondola apparently hit a power line and burst into flames during the Mid-Atlantic Balloon Festival at 7.30pm local time on Friday evening. |
| Authorities received eyewitness reports that two occupants either fell or jumped from the burning balloon after it struck the power line. | |
| The ballooning festival had been due to start on Saturday and organisers were hosting a special "Friday Flights Happy Hour" for a limited audience from 6pm to 9pm when the apparent crash happened. | The ballooning festival had been due to start on Saturday and organisers were hosting a special "Friday Flights Happy Hour" for a limited audience from 6pm to 9pm when the apparent crash happened. |
| More than 20 hot air balloon teams from across the US were due to take part in the festival at The Meadow Event Park in Caroline County. | More than 20 hot air balloon teams from across the US were due to take part in the festival at The Meadow Event Park in Caroline County. |
| Horrified witnesses posted pictures of the blaze on social media, where the balloon’s basket can be seen engulfed in flames. | Horrified witnesses posted pictures of the blaze on social media, where the balloon’s basket can be seen engulfed in flames. |
| "They were just screaming for anybody to help them," Carrie Hager-Bradley, who saw the balloon on fire on her way home, told WWBT TV. She said she heard one person shouting: “Help me, help me, sweet Jesus, help. I'm going to die. Oh my God, I'm going to die.” | "They were just screaming for anybody to help them," Carrie Hager-Bradley, who saw the balloon on fire on her way home, told WWBT TV. She said she heard one person shouting: “Help me, help me, sweet Jesus, help. I'm going to die. Oh my God, I'm going to die.” |
| Another resident, Debra Ferguson, told a local newspaper she looked up after other balloons had landed safely near her house and heard cries of “Oh my god” and then saw a surge of flames. | Another resident, Debra Ferguson, told a local newspaper she looked up after other balloons had landed safely near her house and heard cries of “Oh my god” and then saw a surge of flames. |
| "As soon as we looked up, the thing blew up right there ... it was like a match, poof, and then it was gone," Ferguson told the Free Lance-Star, of Fredericksburg. | "As soon as we looked up, the thing blew up right there ... it was like a match, poof, and then it was gone," Ferguson told the Free Lance-Star, of Fredericksburg. |
| A police statement said: "No wreckage has been found yet, and there are no confirmed injuries or fatalities." | A police statement said: "No wreckage has been found yet, and there are no confirmed injuries or fatalities." |
| A ground search was under way involving state police, the Federal Aviation Administration, and local law enforcement and emergency workers, officials said. | A ground search was under way involving state police, the Federal Aviation Administration, and local law enforcement and emergency workers, officials said. |
| "State police report that bad weather elsewhere in the Richmond vicinity has grounded air search for the time being," organisers wrote on the website. | "State police report that bad weather elsewhere in the Richmond vicinity has grounded air search for the time being," organisers wrote on the website. |