At least eight people have died after a hot-air balloon caught fire and plunged to the ground in Brazil.
Of the 21 people on board, 13 survived and have been rushed to the hospital in the city of Praia Grande.
Footage shared by the local news outlet G1 appeared to show the hot-air balloon catching fire and plummeting towards the ground, letting out billows of smoke.
In a video on X, Jorginho Mello, governor of Brazil’s southern state of Santa Catarina, said: “We are in mourning. A tragedy has happened. We will see how it unfolds, what happened, why it happened. But the important thing now is for the state structure to do what it can.”
The governor added that he has asked authorities to head to the municipality “to do as much as possible to rescue, to help, to take to hospital, to comfort the families”.
Praia Grande, which is known as the “capital of the canyons”, is a common destination for hot-air ballooning and attracts scores of tourists.
Local sources say an investigation has been launched to discover the cause of the incident.
The accident comes after a woman died in a hot-air balloon ride in Brazil’s southeastern state of Sao Paulo on June 15.
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