Hot air balloon crash kills 16 in Texas

The Federal Aviation Administration said the fiery crash occurred at about 7:40 a.m. (1810 IST) near Lockhart, a town about 50 km south of Austin, the Texas capital.

The Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office said 16 people were believed to have been aboard the doomed craft and that no one survived. The Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed that 16 people were dead. 

Emergency responders in Texas said the basket portion of the balloon, which carries the passenger and crew, caught fire. Aerial television footage from the aftermath of the accident showed remnants of the red, white and blue balloon, adorned with a large, yellow smiley face wearing sunglasses, lying flattened at the crash site.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) offered no details on what may have caused the accident, on a clear day. But a spokesman at the scene, Erik Grosof, said teams from that agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were being dispatched to determine how the crash unfolded. FBI assistance is routine in cases of major accidents, Grosof said. 

Meanwhile, one woman was killed and three people were hospitalised with bullet wounds in overnight shooting incidents in the Texas capital of Austin, emergency officials said on social media early on Sunday. Austin police said in a message on Twitter there had been “separate shootings within the same area” of the city’s downtown, adding: “Both scenes are secure at this time.”