Emergency providers function on the space the place a scorching air balloon crashed, leaving not less than 8 useless in Santa Catarina, Brazil on June 21, 2025. (Picture by CBMSC/ Brazil / Handout/Anadolu by way of Getty Pictures)
RIO DE JANEIRO – Firefighters in Brazil mentioned not less than eight folks had been killed after a hot-air balloon caught hearth and tumbled from the sky on Saturday within the southern state of Santa Catarina.
Footage shared by native information outlet G1 confirmed billows of smoke coming from the balloon in flames because it hurtled towards the bottom within the municipality of Praia Grande.
What we all know:
Three folks died hugging one another, mentioned Ulisses Gabriel, chief of Santa Catarina’s civil police power, on X. “It hurts the soul.”
On a video on social media, two folks might be seen falling by the air as the hearth unfold onboard the plane.
13 folks survived and had been taken to hospitals, Santa Catarina’s army hearth brigade mentioned, including that 21 folks had been on board together with the pilot.
The crash occurred at round 8 a.m. native time, mentioned Lt. Col. Zevir Cipriano Jr., a army firefighter. A hearth began within the basket, prompting the pilot to attempt to land the balloon.
13 folks, together with the pilot, managed to leap out however eight had been unable to. With out the burden of the others, the balloon started rising once more.
What we do not know:
A trigger has not been revealed.
Authorities have opened an investigation and the outcomes shall be made public inside 30 days, Santa Catarina’s public security secretary Col. Flávio Graff advised journalists. In response to the civil police, the pilot has given testimony and they’ll additionally collect statements from survivors, Graff added.
What they’re saying:
“We’re in mourning. A tragedy has occurred. We’ll see the way it unfolds, what occurred, why it occurred. However the essential factor now could be for the state construction to do what it could,” Gov. Jorginho Mello mentioned in a video on X.
Mello mentioned he has requested authorities to move to the municipality “to do as a lot as attainable to rescue, to assist, to take to hospital, to consolation the households.”
“In response to the pilot, who is among the survivors, a hearth began contained in the basket after which he started to decrease the balloon. When the balloon was very near the bottom, he ordered folks to leap out of the basket,” Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper quoted Praia Grande head police officer Tiago Luiz Lemos as saying.
“A few of them didn’t handle to leap. The fireplace elevated and the balloon ended up falling,” Lemos added.
Dig deeper:
G1 reported that the balloon’s anticipated flight time was 45 minutes, with the balloon reaching 1000 meters, and price 550 reais (round $100) per passenger.
What’s subsequent:
Sobrevoar, the corporate liable for the multicolored balloon, mentioned it complied with all laws and had a clear accident report previous to Saturday.
“Regardless of all vital precautions and the efforts of our pilot — who has in depth expertise and adopted all really useful procedures in an try to save lots of everybody on board the balloon — we’re affected by the ache brought on by this tragedy,” it mentioned in an announcement.
Sobrevoar added that it was suspending all operations for an indefinite interval.
Large image view:
Praia Grande is a typical vacation spot for hot-air ballooning, a well-liked exercise in some components of Brazil’s south throughout June festivities that remember Catholic saints corresponding to St. John, whose feast day is on June 24.
Final Sunday, a balloon got here down in Sao Paulo state, killing a 27-year-old girl and injuring 11 different folks, G1 reported.
The Supply: The Related Press contributed to this report. Info on this story comes from Brazilian authorities, together with Santa Catarina’s civil police and army hearth brigade, in addition to statements from native officers corresponding to Governor Jorginho Mello. This story was reported from Los Angeles.
