Hot air balloon crashed after getting stuck in electric wires, 5 people died, lights of 13 thousand houses went off
A hot air balloon crashed after hitting power lines in the US city of New Mexico. Five people died in this accident. The balloon crashed to the ground after being hit by power lines. A police spokesman said the accident happened at 7 a.m. on the west side of Albuquerque. The identities of the dead have not yet been revealed, but fire officials said three men and two women, including the pilot, were killed.
Four people died on the spot, Gallegos said, while a fifth person died in hospital in critical condition. He told that this balloon got entangled on the top of the power lines. Due to this a wire broke and more than 13 thousand houses lost their electricity. The Federal Aviation Administration said the balloon fell from a height of 100 feet in the middle of a busy road and then caught fire.
A police spokesman said that the envelope of the balloon detached from it and landed on the roof of a house. Officials are yet to determine what caused the accident. National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudsen said two investigators had been sent to the scene, who would look into the balloon and operating conditions. A preliminary inquiry report will usually be released in a few weeks. Gilbert Gallegos explained that hot air balloons are very difficult to control, especially when strong winds begin to blow.
Albuquerque is known as the Mecca for hot air balloons. The city hosts a nine-day event in October, drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators and pilots from around the world. It is one of the most photographed events globally. Albuquerque-area residents get to see balloons floating in the sky all year round along homes and the Rio Grande. Although balloon accidents do not happen here early, but sometimes such accidents keep coming up. Since 2008, there have been 12 hot air balloon accidents in the US. Two of it came out in Rio Rancho outside of Albuquerque. One accident happened in 2008, while the other happened in January this year.
