Tragic video captures man dangling from fiery hot air balloon before plummeting to his death after saving 2 passengers
The man was seen hanging onto a rope as the balloon continued to go higher in the sky.
NEW: Man falls from the basket of a hot air balloon after it caught on fire in Zacatecas, Mexico.
A man fell to his death from a hot air balloon that went up in flames during a Mexican festival Sunday, after he heroically saved the lives of two other people onboard in a horrific accident caught on camera.
Harrowing footage posted on X shows the man dangling from a rope that he became entangled in as the basket above him – a raging inferno billowing smoke – floats higher and higher above the ground in an overcast sky.
3 Luicio N, 40, dangles from a hot air balloon engulfed in flames.
Courtesy X/fl360aero
The balloon is next seen gliding along a sunny, bright blue sky when the desperate man, just a black dot from the vast distance, lets go and plummets many feet to Earth.
The 40-year-old man, identified only as Luicio N. by the police, died in the fall, according to the Riviera Maya News.
'I regret to inform you that during the First Balloon Festival, part of the Enrique Estrada 2025 Fair organized by the city council of this municipality, a person lost their life after an unfortunate incident while aboard a hot air balloon,' said Secretary General Rodrigo Reyes Mugüerza.
The terrifying incident began on the ground when the hot air balloon, participating in the Zacatecas First Balloon Festival at the Enrique Estrada Fair, caught fire with Luicio and two other passengers sitting inside.
Lucio heroically leapt into action, grabbing the two passengers out of its basket and guiding them to safety.
3 A hot air balloon engulfed in flames takes flight, lifting up a man caught in its lines.
Courtesy X/fl360aero
But as the balloon moved, Lucio became entangled in its lines and was lifted into the air with it. He dangled from the rope until his fatal fall, according to the local outlet.
Police arrived at the scene to recover the hero's body, and paramedics took the two injured passengers to a local hospital, where they were treated for first-degree burns.
3 Ruins in Zacatecas, Mexico, where Luicio N plummeted to his death in a tragic hot air balloon accident during a fair.
Emmanuel – stock.adobe.com
Cops are investigating the accident and encouraged hot air balloon operators to take all safety precautions, the Riviera Maya News reported.
'We have asked the State Attorney General's Office to conduct the corresponding investigations to clarify the facts and determine responsibility. We urge all municipal authorities to strengthen their verification mechanisms to avoid these types of risks during their activities and festivities,' Reyes Mugüerza said.
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Celaya used to be a tranquil city. Its location along a highway and railroad that stretch 600 miles to the United States drew Honda and other automakers to build plants here. For years, a local criminal group called the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel quietly stole fuel from the major oil pipelines that cross the region. It wasn't until the notorious Jalisco New Generation Cartel edged in several years ago that violence exploded. The groups battled for control of pipelines but also drug trafficking, extortion rackets and theft of cargo trucks. Celaya became synonymous with violence as criminals gunned down shopkeepers who refused to pay extortion fees, drug users who couldn't pay their dealers and everyday citizens who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. They carried out massacres at hotels, bars and even funerals. By 2024, Celaya had a homicide rate of 87 killings per 100,000 people — 17 times the rate in the United States. 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