According to the local authorities, a hot air balloon crash in the Arizona desert on Sunday morning resulted in at least four fatalities and one injury.
The Eloy Police Department (EPD) said in an online statement that the hot air balloon collision occurred at around 7:30 am in a rural desert location east of Sunshine Boulevard and Hanna Road, around five miles from Eloy, Arizona.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were on the scene and had taken over the investigation, the EPD reported, even though the reason of the incident is yet unknown.
Five people were inside the balloon when it fell, according to FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro, as reported by Newsweek.
Eloy Mayor Micah Powell claimed at a press conference that eight skydivers who got out of the gondola before to the crash and were unharmed were among the thirteen people who had gone up on the balloon.
Eloy Police Chief Byron Gwaltney stated at the press conference, “At this point, all we know is that the skydivers were able to exit the balloon without incident and complete their planned skydiving event, and then shortly thereafter something catastrophic happened with the balloon causing it to crash to the ground.”
According to Newsweek, three of the five people in the gondola passed away in hospitals, one of them at the scene, and the fifth is still in critical condition.
“The Eloy Police Department extends its deepest condolences to the families and friends of those involved in this heartbreaking incident,” it stated.
Eloy, a 16,000-person city in Pinal County, has played host to skydiving competitions and, according to Powell, attracts visitors from “countries from around the world”.
It is a “close-knit” skydiving community, he said.
