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| Two Richmond basketball officials presumed dead in hot-air balloon crash Friday | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| DOSWELL, Va. — Two women’s basketball officials at the University of Richmond were among the three people feared dead after the hot air balloon they were in caught fire and crashed, a relative confirmed Saturday. | |
| Associate head coach Ginny Doyle, 44, was one of the three, Doyle’s sister said in a brief telephone interview from her home in Pennsylvania. | Associate head coach Ginny Doyle, 44, was one of the three, Doyle’s sister said in a brief telephone interview from her home in Pennsylvania. |
| Natalie Lewis, the director of basketball operations, also was in the balloon, according to the ex-wife of Spiders head coach Michael Shafer. He participated in the outing to support his girlfriend, who was an organizer of the Mid-Atlantic Balloon Festival, his ex-wife said. | |
| Shafer and his two daughters, who are 7 and 9 years old, had gone up in another balloon about the same time as Doyle and Lewis, according to his ex-wife, who asked not to be identified to protect the privacy of her children, who were traumatized by witnessing the accident. | |
| “ ‘Mommy, they were right next to me when they took off,’ ” one daughter told her afterward, she said. “They’re very traumatized, and rightfully so.” | |
| Doyle, a former Richmond player who had been on the staff for 16 seasons, tweeted about her balloon flight Friday. She wrote that fog had prevented them from going up at 6:30 a.m., but Shafer’s ex-wife said that must have been a typo and that the plan was always to go up in the evening. | |
| “Getting ready to go up in a hot air balloon today,” she posted on Twitter and Instagram at 1:30 p.m. Friday. “Tried it at 6:30am but was too foggy. Will go up this evening #anxiety.” | |
| Around 6 p.m., Doyle posted a photo of the balloon being set up, with the balloon rolled out on the ground and the basket nearby. She posted that she was “getting ready to go up.” | |
| Doyle posted a photo with Lewis, a former swimmer for the university who graduated in 2011. | |
| Bodies of two of the balloon’s occupants have been recovered, Virginia State Police said, and rescuers were still searching Saturday for another occupant who was feared dead. The sister said that as of Saturday afternoon the family had not been notified if Doyle’s body was one of the two that had been recovered. | |
| State police have not identified the two passengers or the pilot. | |
| 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. | 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.” |
| Although Doyle tweeted about fog hampering their plans for a morning balloon ride, Geller said the weather was fine by Friday evening and was not thought to have been a factor in the crash. | Although Doyle tweeted about fog hampering their plans for a morning balloon ride, Geller said the weather was fine by Friday evening and was not thought to have been a factor in the crash. |
| 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. | “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. |
| Twenty balloonists from the Mid-Atlantic were scheduled to participate in the weekend festival Saturday, but a special kickoff was held Friday for about 740 people. Organizers canceled the festival after the crash, which occurred about 25 miles north of Richmond near Meadow Event Park in rural Caroline County, where the festival was being held. | Twenty balloonists from the Mid-Atlantic were scheduled to participate in the weekend festival Saturday, but a special kickoff was held Friday for about 740 people. Organizers canceled the festival after the crash, which occurred about 25 miles north of Richmond near Meadow Event Park in rural Caroline County, where the festival was being held. |
| “It’s just a shocking situation for everyone,” Greg Hicks, a spokesman for the venue, which also hosts the state fair, said in an interview with the Associated Press. | |
| Bystander Nancy Johnson said the crash occurred in an instant. | 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.” | “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.” |
| 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. |