A hot air balloon carrying at least 16 people has caught fire and crashed in Central Texas.
Caldwell County Sheriff Daniel Law announced that there did not appear to be any survivors from the accident, and that the scene had been turned over to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
“Investigators are determining the number and the identities of victims at this time,” the Sheriff's Office said.
Lynn Lunsford of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement that the balloon, thought to be carrying 16 passengers and crew, came down in a field close to the town of Lockhart at around 7.40am on Saturday. A fire reportedly broke out in the basket of the balloon during the early morning flight.
Agents from the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are on their way to the scene to investigate. Lockhart is about 30 miles south of the state capital, Austin.
According to the NTSB, the highest number of fatalities in a single hot air balloon crash in the US before now was six. This is the second fatal hot air balloon accident in the US in 2016, the agency said.
More to follow...
