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| Texas hot air balloon crash: 'No survivors' among 16 on board | Texas hot air balloon crash: 'No survivors' among 16 on board |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A hot air balloon carrying at least 16 people has caught fire and crashed in the US state of Texas, with all on board feared dead. | |
| The balloon came down in fields near Lockhart, about 30 miles (50km) south of the state capital Austin. | |
| Caldwell County sheriff Daniel Law said the basket of the balloon was on fire when emergency crews arrived. | |
| Videos posted by local media suggest the balloon came down near tall power lines, but the cause is not yet known. | |
| The balloon crashed at about 07:40 (12:40 GMT), officials said. | |
| "It does not appear at this time that there were any survivors of the crash," the sheriff's office said. | |
| The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation. Erik Grosof, an NTSB official at the scene, said only that there had been "a number of fatalities". | |
| He said the balloon was believed to have belonged to the Heart of Texas Balloon Rides, an Austin-based company that offers trips to see the sunrise with champagne. | |
| Local resident Margaret Wylie said she was outside her home when she heard two "pops" which she thought was a gun going off. | |
| "The next thing I knew you saw a big fireball go up. I was just praying that whoever was there got away from the thing in time," she said. | |
| A Fox News reporter from Lockhart who is at the scene says contact was lost with the balloon about half an hour into a scheduled one-hour flight. | |
| Governor Greg Abbott asked in a statement that "all of Texas to join us in praying for those lost". | Governor Greg Abbott asked in a statement that "all of Texas to join us in praying for those lost". |
| Other deadly hot air balloon accidents | |
| February 2013: A hot air balloon caught fire and crashed in Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 foreign tourists | |
| August 2012: Six people died and another 26 were injured when a hot air balloon caught fire and crashed near Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital | |
| January 2012: A hot air balloon struck power lines and exploded near Carterton in New Zealand, before crashing to the ground - all 11 people on board were killed. | |
| October 2009: Four Dutch tourists died in Guangxi, China, after a hot air balloon caught fire and crashed | |
| August 2001: A hot air balloon touched a power line in south-west France, killing six people | |
| Are you near Lockhart? Did you see what took place? If it is safe to do so, please get in touch. Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk | Are you near Lockhart? Did you see what took place? If it is safe to do so, please get in touch. Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk |
| Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways: | Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways: |
| Or use the form below | Or use the form below |