Hot Air Balloon Accident in Surrey, B.C Canada (1) AUG 24 2007

A hot air balloon burst into flames over western Canada, burning a woman and her adult daughter to death while their families looked on, officials said Saturday. Other passengers leaped to the ground, some with their clothes in flames, witnesses said.

Eleven passengers were seriously injured when the balloon crashed Friday evening in a recreational vehicle park near the U.S border in Surrey, British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver. There were 12 passengers and a pilot on board, police and witnesses said.

John Kageorge, who works for Fantasy Balloon Charters, said the fire started as the balloon was about to launch. Kageorge said three passengers did not get out of the basket before it became airborne.

"One person jumped from an unsafe distance, two stories in the air or more," said Kageorge. The mother and daughter did not jump, he said, although two of their family members made it out of the basket.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Roger Morrow confirmed the deaths and said relatives of the two passengers killed witnessed the fire.

"It's just tragic. They watched it unfold before their eyes," Morrow said of the family. "The fatalities suffered from burns."

The balloon caught fire as it prepared to launch, said Bill Yearwood, an investigator with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

"The crew loaded 12 passengers and was preparing to launch when a fire erupted. The pilot asked the passengers to get out of the basket," he said. "The balloon was tethered at the time, but then broke and came loose," he added.

"They were all trying to get out."

After most of the passengers escaped, the balloon exploded in a fireball and shot up into the air. Shortly after, the burning balloon plunged to ground in the RV park, leaving a tail of thick black smoke in its wake.

"I can't tell you what exactly happened when the balloon was loosened from the tether," Yearwood said. "We will be talking to attending crew members and the pilot to find out."

He said the pilot was in stable condition.

"The thing went up about 400 feet in the air at which point it melted enough of the balloon _ it collapsed," said Don Randall, a resident of the trailer park who took pictures of the scene. "The basket was basically a fireball. It just dropped like a stone," he added.

"I'm just thinking, 'Oh geez, I hope there's nobody in that thing. It's basically a burning death up there,'" he said.

Smoke could be seen billowing from the crash site from miles away.

Another resident, Karen Ashby, held back tears while she explained how she watched the coroner sift through the blackened wreckage.

"They found the bodies in here," Ashby said. "I watched them take them out."

The cause of the accident was not immediately known. Weather conditions were clear at the time of the sunset flight.

"People were screaming and trying to get out," Frank Hersey said Friday night near a grassy field where several of the injured were being attended to by ambulance crews.

Perry Kendall said he saw what looked like something out of a movie.

"It was horrifying," said a shaken Kendall. "Just looking at people screaming and jumping out of there. Some of them, I think, had fire on their clothes. It was just awful."

Witnesses also said propane tanks from the balloon shot off and landed on the Hazelmere RV park below, setting fire to three trailers and several vehicles. No one was reported hurt in those blazes.

"We're exceptionally lucky that nobody in any of these three trailers or in the vehicles that were destroyed were caught in them," Morrow said.

The hot-air balloon, operated by Fantasy Balloons Charters based in Langley, British Columbia, was one of several balloons in flight at the time. The balloon that burned, Kageorge said, was about nine stories high.

There was a similar accident earlier this month in the central Canadian province of Manitoba, Manitoba, where 12 people were injured.
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Category:

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[PMAgent]

You're making pretty harsh judgements for someone who probably rides in cars everyday which is proven to be much more dangerous than riding in a hot air balloon. You may want to ask yourself who is really the stupid one? Because you seem like a pretty stupid person to me. I knew the woman who died in the balloon and I'm sure her friends and family would take offense to your ignorant comments. You're a cold, heartless asshole.

[MDATVRIDER]

anytime your feet leave the ground your in danger...

[daveni2]

what a professional this officer is

totally respectful and patient

[justin1996112]

Ok. The one who jumped out is my auntie and she saved someone by pulling them out with her but the other person was in critical condition and the weren't showing her on the news. The two people that burned in the balloon were my friends autie and cousin. :(

[chekelo100]

i live beside the place it crashed scary

[proto57]

"how many times have you heard of balloons crashing...?"

Alot.

[WickedChess]

Officer should have just said the truth on live TV that there with fatalities but I guess it isn't his job! but good footage you musta been in the right spot at the right time to shoot this.

[daveni2]

very professional and patient. Great rep. for our law enforcement in Canada. You really believe in "To serve and Protect" with men like this on the job.

And thank you for your kind words, makes me proud to be a Canadian!

[leftcoastrangers]

Handsome mountie, and very respectful and well spoken. Canadians have class. God bless everyone involved, give them strength and courage to investigate and heal.

[KLBSRR]

You are pathetic. Two people died in that accident and as a close friend of the 21 year old woman that died in the accident I can say I hope you do not have to go through what that family has gone through. You should be ashamed of yourself.

[rtaitt2000]

Idiot get your facts straight before you make stupid comment about hot air balloons not being safe, how many times have you heard of balloons crashing, I am sure you drive a car does that make you an idiot based on the facts that An average of 114 people die each day in car crashes in the U.S......check that number out for yourself.........and then reply to my comment

"casperdfaerie7 & snaljapen"