At least 8 people dead after hot air balloon crashes with 22 on board

A hot air balloon has crashed in Brazil, reportedly claiming the lives of eight passengers.

The governor of Santa Catarina state, Jorginho Mello, confirmed the sad news on social media.

“Preliminary information indicates that there were 22 people on board,” he penned on Twitter. “So far, we have confirmed eight deaths and two survivors were rescued alive.”

Rescue workers are said to be at the scene in Praia Grande, the country’s second most populous city on the coast of São Paulo, where they are looking for the other passengers.

Heartbreaking footage online shows the balloon airborne and up in flames. It completely deflates and the basket carrying the passengers, which is also alight, comes crashing down to the ground.

The heartbreaking incident comes just days after there was another hot air balloon incident in Turkey last week, leaving one dead and 19 others injured.

Mehmet Ali Kumbuzoglu, the provincial governor, confirmed that it was the pilot who died after he got ‘stuck under the basket’.

Elsewhere, Nermin Yildirim Kara, an MP from the province of Hatay, wrote on Twitter, per LBC: “We wish God’s blessings upon our peer who lost his life in the air balloon accident in the Ihlara Valley of Aksaray province, and a speedy recovery to those who have been injured.”

More to follow.