A hot-air balloon carrying tourists, including children, plunged to the ground in flames yesterday just outside the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, killing four people and injuring 28, police said.
The balloon was ablaze when firemen arrived at the scene of the incident, firefighter chief Tomaz Kucic told the official STA news agency.
“We were landing but I think the speed was too high. We hit the ground, bounced off once, and hit it again. We held on but five of us fell out,” a survivor, Tomaz Simec, told Slovenian television station Kanal A. “After that, I no longer remember.”
Police recovered the four bodies of those killed, STA reported.
Six children were among the injured, according to news website 24ur. Most of the 32 people on board – 30 passengers, a pilot and a co-pilot – were Slovenian nationals, with three Italians and one Briton, a police spokeswoman said. All 32 were accounted for.
The cause of the incident was not immediately clear. STA said the balloon had requested permission to land about 15 minutes before it crashed. – (Reuters)