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| Two die after hot air balloon catches fire and crashes in Virginia | Two die after hot air balloon catches fire and crashes in Virginia |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| DOSWELL, Va. — The bodies of two occupants of a hot air balloon that caught fire and crashed have been recovered, Virginia State Police said, and rescuers were still searching Saturday for another occupant who was feared dead. | |
| The three were in a balloon about 8 p.m. Friday that witnesses said crashed amid screams for help. | The three were in a balloon about 8 p.m. Friday that witnesses said crashed amid screams for help. |
| The first body was found in a heavily wooded area shortly before midnight, state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said Saturday. The second body was recovered about 11 a.m. Saturday in the same wooded area. The balloon and gondola carrying the pilot and two passengers have not been found, she said. | The first body was found in a heavily wooded area shortly before midnight, state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said Saturday. The second body was recovered about 11 a.m. Saturday in the same wooded area. The balloon and gondola carrying the pilot and two passengers have not been found, she said. |
| Geller said the balloon was one of 13 that had taken flight Friday ahead of a balloon festival scheduled for Saturday and that it was attempting to come down in a designated landing area when it hit a power line. The pilot attempted to vent the balloon and take other measures to bring it down, a pilot on the ground told investigators. | |
| She said the pilot had only minutes, if not seconds, to react. | She said the pilot had only minutes, if not seconds, to react. |
| “Unfortunately, it was a very rapid event,” Geller said. “And then you have the explosion.” | “Unfortunately, it was a very rapid event,” Geller said. “And then you have the explosion.” |
| Because of the time elapsed since the crash, the search was shifted Saturday from a rescue operation to a mission to recover remains, Geller said. More rescuers were called in Saturday. | Because of the time elapsed since the crash, the search was shifted Saturday from a rescue operation to a mission to recover remains, Geller said. More rescuers were called in Saturday. |
| According to the Associated Press, witnesses told police that two of the occupants either fell or jumped from the burning balloon after it struck the power line. | According to the Associated Press, witnesses told police that two of the occupants either fell or jumped from the burning balloon after it struck the power line. |
| Carrie Hager-Bradley said she saw the balloon in flames on her way home from the grocery store and heard people yelling, according to TV station WWBT. | Carrie Hager-Bradley said she saw the balloon in flames on her way home from the grocery store and heard people yelling, according to TV station WWBT. |
| “They were just screaming for anybody to help them,” she said. “ ‘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. | |
| The crash occurred about 25 miles north of Richmond near Meadow Event Park in Caroline County, where the Mid-Atlantic Balloon Festival was being held. | |
| Bystander Nancy Johnson said the crash occurred in an instant. | |
| “One minute the balloons were hovering in [the] field behind Event Park, the next everyone is pointing at sky,” she wrote in an e-mail to the Associated Press. “The crowd went silent in shock. Very sad night.” | |
| Donnell Ferguson said he was cutting grass when he saw a couple of balloons passing by. One was low, barely at tree-top level. | Donnell Ferguson said he was cutting grass when he saw a couple of balloons passing by. One was low, barely at tree-top level. |
| “At first I saw a cloud of black smoke and then I noticed the basket on fire,” he said Saturday. “Then it just took off real fast and disappeared.” | “At first I saw a cloud of black smoke and then I noticed the basket on fire,” he said Saturday. “Then it just took off real fast and disappeared.” |
| The festival was scheduled to begin Saturday, but a special kickoff was held Friday for about 740 people. Organizers canceled the rest of the festival after the incident. | |
| Twenty balloonists from the Mid-Atlantic were scheduled to participate in the weekend festival, said Greg Hicks, a spokesman for the venue, which also hosts the state fair. | |
| “It’s just a shocking situation for everyone,” Hicks said in an interview with the Associated Press. | “It’s just a shocking situation for everyone,” Hicks said in an interview with the Associated Press. |
| Some hot air balloons landed safely in Debra Ferguson’s yard, the Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg reported. | Some hot air balloons landed safely in Debra Ferguson’s yard, the Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg reported. |
| 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. | 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. |
| “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.” | “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.” |
| 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. | 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 told the newspaper. | “We saw a glow, and you could tell the bottom of the balloon was in flames,” Dustin told the newspaper. |