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Hot air balloon over Arizona (symbolic image)
Photo: Charlie Riedel/ AP/dpa
Four people have died when a hot air balloon crashed in the Arizona desert. A woman is in critical condition after the accident, investigators said. Among the dead was the pilot of the hot air balloon.
According to the information, the accident occurred on Sunday in Eloy, about a hundred kilometers from Phoenix. Before the crash, eight parachutists had successfully exited the basket of the balloon, it said.
"The balloon crashed into desert territory after an unspecified problem with its envelope," the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said. The exact cause of the accident is still under investigation.
All of the skydivers successfully completed their jump before the problems with the hot air balloon occurred, the Eloy Police Department said. According to the police, the dead are a 24-year-old, two 28-year-olds and the 37-year-old pilot. The critically injured woman is 23 years old.
wit/Reuters