Tragic: Hot Air Balloon Catches Fire In Brazil, 8 Dead

Intro

Oh my gosh. Footage has been flooding social media today about a horrific hot ai balloon accident down in Brazil. There is some footage circulating online that honestly gave me shivers, I'll attach links below but please be aware of what you will witness.

The Details

Hot air balloon tours have long been a thing around the world, and yesterday, what thought to be a routine flight ended very differently.

In the state of Santa Catarina (Brazil), the hot air balloon took off with supposedly no issues. There have been some reports of the balloon only gaining elevation slowly, but nothing in entirely confirmed.

Well, not too long into the flight, there was a fire in the gas cylinder compartment, and the fire extinguishes did not work. The pilot used the other burners to bring the balloon to the ground, instructing people to jump when close to the ground, and got the balloon close enough that 13/21 passengers made it onto the ground alive (including the pilot).

What a tragic accident

However, with less weight inside of the balloon at this point, it began to rise with a remaining 8 passengers.

4 of the remaining passengers died attempting to jump out second before the balloon exploded at a height of at least 150 feet. Be careful before you watch that video...

However, the other 4 stayed inside of the balloon, and presumably passed away either from the balloon exploding (you can see the fire) or the fall to the ground.

I'll update this post as more details come out, but for now I just want add that my thoughts and prayers are with the families and those affected. I cannot even begin to imagine how scary it is/must have been (for survivors).

Link to the video (proceed with caution)

Final Thoughts

Reports have been circulating today about a tragic accident involving a hot air balloon in Brazil. When an issue arose once airborne, the pilot managed to bring it down enough for 13/21 passengers to evacuate before the balloon started rising again. Tragically, the other eight passengers passed away.