Sizzling-air balloon crash in Brazil kills a minimum of 8 after fireplace breaks out mid-flight

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A hot-air balloon carrying 21 individuals in Brazil caught fireplace Saturday morning and crashed, killing a minimum of eight individuals, Santa Catarina’s navy fireplace brigade stated.

The crash occurred in Santa Catarina, a state in Brazil’s south, after the fire began within the basket, forcing the pilot to aim to land, officers stated.

Video shared on social media reveals black smoke billowing over the deflated balloon because it hurtles towards the bottom in a wooded space close to the city of Praia Grande, which is standard for hot-air ballooning.

The 13 survivors, together with the pilot, have been taken to hospitals with unknown accidents.

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<source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/672/378/hot-air-balloon-accident-in-brazil-at-least-8-dead-2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/1344/756/hot-air-balloon-accident-in-brazil-at-least-8-dead-2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/931/523/hot-air-balloon-accident-in-brazil-at-least-8-dead-2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/1862/1046/hot-air-balloon-accident-in-brazil-at-least-8-dead-2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> A hot-air balloon carrying 21 individuals in Brazil caught fireplace Saturday morning and crashed, killing a minimum of eight individuals, Santa Catarina’s navy fireplace brigade stated. (CBMSC/Brazil/Handout/Anadolu by way of Getty Photos)

The survivors managed to reside by leaping out of the balloon when the hearth first started, officers stated.

The balloon at first started to rise once more as soon as among the passengers had jumped out.

"These individuals ended up dying — 4 charred, and one other 4 jumped out of the balloon when it was falling," Lt. Col. Zevir Cipriano Jr. stated.

"We're in mourning," Santa Catarina Gov. Jorginho Mello stated in a video on X. "A tragedy has occurred. We'll see the way it unfolds, what occurred, why it occurred. However the necessary factor now could be for the state construction to do what it might."

He added that he’s requested authorities "to do as a lot as attainable" to assist the victims and their households.

Three of the victims died hugging one another, Santa Catarina’s civil police drive Chief Ulisses Gabriel stated on social media.

"It hurts the soul," he stated.

<source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/931/523/hot-air-balloon-accident-in-brazil-at-least-8-dead.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/1862/1046/hot-air-balloon-accident-in-brazil-at-least-8-dead.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> Emergency companies function within the space the place a hot-air balloon crashed, leaving a minimum of eight lifeless in Santa Catarina, Brazil, Saturday. (CBMSC/Brazil/Handout/Anadolu by way of Getty Photos)

Costing $100 per individual, the trip was anticipated to be 45 minutes lengthy and attain 3,280 toes. It’s not clear what peak the balloon was at when it began to fall.

"Regardless of all needed precautions and the efforts of our pilot — who has intensive expertise and adopted all really useful procedures in an try to avoid wasting everybody on board the balloon — we're affected by the ache brought on by this tragedy," the hot-air balloon firm Sobrevoar stated in an announcement.

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Sobrevoar added that it had adopted all rules for the trip and had a transparent report beforehand. It's now suspending its operations indefinitely.

Round 25 to 30 hot-air balloon journeys depart day by day from the realm, the federal government stated.

A member of Brazil's Middle for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA) walks subsequent to the wreckage of a hot-air balloon that caught fireplace and crashed with 21 individuals on board in Praia Grande, Santa Catarina State, southern Brazil, Saturday. (Silvio Avila/AFP by way of Getty Photos)

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed his solidarity with the victims’ households and stated the federal authorities was out there to assist with the investigation.