![Eight dead in Brazil hot air balloon accident [VIDEOS]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.citizen.co.za%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F06%2FBrazil-hot-air-balloon.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
Eight dead in Brazil hot air balloon accident [VIDEOS]
After the balloon erupted in flames, the basket carrying the passengers plummeted to the ground.
A rescue team member stands at the crash site after a hot air balloon carrying 21 people caught fire and plunged, in Praia Grande, State of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil, on 21 June 2025. Picture: Handout / Santa Catarina Fire Department / AFP
At least eight people were killed on Saturday when a hot air balloon with 21 passengers caught fire in southern Brazil, said the governor of Santa Catarina state, where the incident occurred.
'Eight fatalities and 13 survivors,' Governor Jorginho Mello said on X.
Hot air balloon erupted in flames
Videos taken by bystanders and carried on Brazilian television showed the moment when the balloon erupted in flames above the coastal town of Praia Grande. The weather conditions were clear.
At least 8 people died after a hot air balloon carrying 22 crashed in Praia Grande, Santa Catarina, Brazil, catching fire mid-air. #PraiaGrande #Balão #Tragédia_SC pic.twitter.com/BVy6cYjLOX — GeoTechWar (@geotechwar) June 21, 2025
The basket carrying the passengers plummeted dozens of metres to the ground in flames.
'We still have no information' about the condition of the survivors, a spokeswoman for Santa Catarina firefighters told AFP.
Praia Grande, on the Atlantic coast, is a popular destination for hot-air ballooning in Brazil.
The survivors were being treated in area hospitals, firefighters said.
An investigation was launched to determine the cause of the accident.
'I want to express my solidarity with the families of the victims,' Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in a statement.
Fire sparked by blowtorch
The pilot told officials that the fire was sparked by a blowtorch in the basket, Tiago Luiz Lemos, a police official in Praia Grande, told local media.
The pilot tried to bring the balloon down as soon as the fire erupted, 'and once it was close to the ground, he told the passengers to jump from the basket. But some of them couldn't do it and the fire grew,' the official said.
One witness told the Razao newspaper that he saw 'two people falling, they were on fire, the basket broke off and the balloon fell'.
It was the second fatal balloon accident in the country in just a few days. Less than a week ago, a woman died during a ride in southeastern Sao Paulo state.
NOW READ: India's civil aviation authority says 242 people on board crashed Air India plane to London
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
eNCA
6 days ago
- eNCA
Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro dies aged nearly 99
Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro, renowned for his huge bronze spheres, died at the weekend, a day before his 99th birthday, his foundation said on Monday. Born in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna on June 23, 1926, Pomodoro began investigating solid geometric forms in the early 1960s. He created monumental spheres, cones, columns and cubes in polished bronze, whose perfectly smooth exteriors split open to reveal interiors that were corroded, torn or simply hollowed out. This "contrast between the smooth perfection of the geometric form and the chaotic complexity of the interior" became his trademark, the Milan-based foundation said on its website. Prime Minister Georgia Meloni said on X that Pomodoro, who died at his home in Milan on Sunday, had "sculpted Italy's soul". "The art world has lost one of its most influential, insightful and visionary voices," added foundation director Carlotta Montebello. AFP | MAXIMILIEN LAMY Pomodoro was one of Italy's most prominent contemporary artists. He won numerous awards and taught at Stanford University, Berkley and Mills College in the United States. His iconic works grace public spaces the world over -– at the Vatican in Rome, the United Nations and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, UNESCO headquarters in Paris, the Universal Exhibition in Shanghai and Trinity College Dublin.
The South African
7 days ago
- The South African
Eight die in Brazil hot-air balloon disaster: Here's what happened
At least eight people were killed on Saturday when a hot-air balloon with 21 passengers caught fire in southern Brazil, a state governor said. It was the second fatal balloon accident in the vast South American country in less than a week. 'Eight fatalities and 13 survivors,' Santa Catarina state governor Jorginho Mello said on X. Videos taken by bystanders and carried on Brazilian television showed the moment when the balloon erupted in flames above a rural area outside the Atlantic coast town of Praia Grande, a tourist hotspot popular for hot-air ballooning. The basket carrying the passengers plummeted dozens of metres to the ground in flames. Other images showed some of the passengers jumping. The 13 survivors were treated at hospitals, firefighters said. Officials at Our Lady of Fatima hospital said of the five survivors treated there, three were in stable condition with minor injuries and two had already been discharged. Information about the other survivors was not immediately available. An investigation was launched to determine the cause of the accident. Weather conditions were clear at the time. 'I want to express my solidarity with the families of the victims,' Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in a statement. The pilot told officials the fire was sparked by a blowtorch – used to ignite the balloon's main flame – in the basket, Tiago Luiz Lemos, a police official in Praia Grande, told local media. The pilot tried to bring the balloon down as soon as the fire erupted, 'and once it was close to the ground, he told the passengers to jump from the basket. But some of them couldn't do it and the fire grew,' the official said. Four people were burned to death and four others died from injuries sustained in the fall, fire department official Zevir Cipriano Junior told reporters. Less than a week ago, a woman died during a balloon ride in southeastern Sao Paulo state. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news. By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
eNCA
22-06-2025
- eNCA
Chad hopes 'green charcoal' can save vanishing forests
N'DJAMENA - As they zigzagged from one machine to another in the searing African sun, the workers were covered in black soot. But the charcoal they were making is known as "green", and backers hope it can save impoverished Chad from rampant deforestation. Chad, a vast, landlocked country of 19 million people perched at the crossroads of north and central Africa, is steadily turning to desert. It has lost more than 90 percent of its forest cover since the 1970s, hit by climate change and overexploitation of trees for household uses such as cooking, officials say. "Green charcoal" aims to protect what forest is left. Made from discarded plant waste such as millet and sesame stalks or palm fronds, it is meant to save trees from being chopped down for cooking. The product "releases less emissions than traditional charcoal, it doesn't blacken your pots, it has high energy content and lasts up to three times longer than ordinary charcoal," said Ousmane Alhadj Oumarou, technical director of the Raikina Association for Socioeconomic Development (Adser). "Using one kilogram of green charcoal saves six kilograms of wood." The group has installed a production facility in Pont Belile, just north of the capital, N'Djamena. There, workers grind up burnt plant waste, then mix it with gum arabic, which helps it ignite, and clay, which makes it burn more slowly. The resulting black nuggets look like ordinary charcoal. Like the traditional kind, it emits CO2 when it burns -- but less, said Souleymane Adam Adey, an ecologist at the University of N'Djamena. And "it contributes to fighting deforestation, by ensuring the trees that aren't cut down continue to capture and store carbon," he said. - Refugee pressure - The conflict in neighbouring Sudan, which is facing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, is adding to pressure on Chad, which has become home to more than 800,000 Sudanese refugees since 2023 -- double the 400,000 it already hosted. AFP | Joris Bolomey "Desertification has progressed in the regions that have been hosting Sudanese refugees for the past two years," said Adser's director, 45-year-old businessman Ismael Hamid. Adser invested 200 million CFA francs (about $350,000) to launch the project, then won backing from the World Bank, which buys the charcoal for 750 CFA francs per kilogramme. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, distributes the charcoal in refugee camps in eastern Chad. But Hamid said he hoped to expand production and slash prices to 350 to 500 CFA francs per kilo to make "green charcoal" available and affordable nationwide. AFP | Joris Bolomey The plant currently produces seven to nine tonnes per day. "If we want to meet the country's needs, we have to increase our output by at least a factor of 10," said Hamid, calling for subsidies to support the budding sector. Environment Minister Hassan Bakhit Djamous told AFP the government was working on a policy to promote such projects. "We need to bet on green charcoal as an energy source for the future of our country," he said.
