At least 8 dead after hot air balloon accident in southern Brazil
'We are all shocked by the accident involving a balloon in Praia Grande, this Saturday morning. Our rescue team is already on site… So far, we have confirmed eight deaths,' local governor Jorginho Mello said on X.
He said 21 people were on board; the other 13 survived.
Video posted to social media shows a hot air balloon catching fire while in the sky. The balloon then deflates and falls to the ground.
'We saw two people fall from above, and soon after the basket broke, and the balloon fell,' an eyewitness told local media outlet Jornal Razão.
The eyewitness said she ran to see where the balloon fell and saw two survivors, 'a woman covered in mud and in a state of shock, and a man with her who was limping,' as well as two bodies.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed his solidarity with the families of the victims on X. 'I would like to place the Federal Government at the disposal of the victims and the state and municipal forces that are working on the rescue and care for the survivors,' he said.
Praia Grande is a common destination for hot-air ballooning, a popular activity in some parts of Brazil's south during June festivities that celebrate Catholic saints such as Saint John, the Associated Press news agency reports.
'My solidarity with the city of Praia Grande… We are in mourning. It's a tragedy that happened. We will check the developments, what happened, and why it happened,' Mello said in a video statement on X.
According to CNN affiliate CNN Brasil, Saturday's incident was the third involving a hot-air balloon in Brazil in less than a week. Last Sunday, a balloon carrying 35 people – which did not have authorization to fly – fell in São Paulo. One person died and the pilot was arrested.
Last Thursday, another balloon fell on the coast of São Paulo, although no serious damage was caused and no homes were hit.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
25 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Bolsonaro Mulled ‘Urgent' Argentina Asylum in Letter, Say Police
Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro considered requesting political asylum in Argentina, according to a draft letter found by police on his phone, evidence that federal law enforcement see as proof the far-right leader planned to flee the country to sidestep a future arrest. The undated 33-page letter was addressed to Argentina's President Javier Milei, who like Bolsonaro champions right-wing politics.
New York Times
28 minutes ago
- New York Times
Jair Bolsonaro Planned to Seek Asylum in Argentina, Brazil's Police Say
Jair Bolsonaro, the former Brazilian president accused of plotting a coup, made plans to seek political asylum in Argentina last year, Brazil's federal police said on Wednesday, citing a document seized from his mobile phone. The police said they had recovered a 33-page draft asylum request from the phone that was addressed to President Javier Milei of Argentina, a fellow right-wing leader. It said that Mr. Bolsonaro was suffering political persecution in Brazil, that he expected to be illegally imprisoned and that he feared for his life. The document is not dated, but the police said it was saved on Mr. Bolsonaro's phone in February 2024, two days after they carried out a sweeping operation that targeted the former president and about two dozen of his political allies. The police arrested some of Mr. Bolsonaro's top aides and searched their homes and offices during that operation. The police said it was unclear whether the asylum request had ever been sent to the Argentine authorities. But they argued that it showed Mr. Bolsonaro had devised plans to evade an inquiry into his role in an attempt to keep him in office after he lost Brazil's 2022 presidential election. Argentina's embassy in Brazil did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Excerpts from the draft asylum request were included in a 170-page report from a federal police investigation into allegations that Mr. Bolsonaro and his son, a sitting congressman in Brazil who is currently in the United States, had lobbied foreign authorities with the aim of undermining Brazil's judiciary and thwarting the case against him. The son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, has visited the White House a number of times in recent months to seek U.S. intervention into his father's case. Last month, President Trump cited the matter when he said he would impose 50 percent tariffs on goods from Brazil, demanding that the country drop the case against the former president, who is a Trump ally. Mr. Bolsonaro is under house arrest as he awaits his trial, which scheduled to start on Sept. 2. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing the case, has ordered him to wear an ankle monitor and stay away from foreign embassies, saying Mr. Bolsonaro is a flight risk. In a new ruling on Wednesday, Justice Moraes said Mr. Bolsonaro had repeatedly breached court orders, giving him 48 hours to clarify why he had done so and to explain the evidence suggesting he had planned to flee Brazil.
Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Washington Post
Brazilian police day ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
BRASILIA, Brazil — Brazil's federal police said that messages found on the telephone of embattled former President Jair Bolsonaro show that at one point he wanted to flee to Argentina and request political asylum, according to documents seen Wednesday by the Associated Press. Bolsonaro is standing trial for an alleged coup attempt and on Wednesday police formally accused the former president and one of his sons of obstruction of justice in connection with his pending trial. The AP had access to the police investigation, which was sent to Brazil's Supreme Court. The Argentine government did not respond a request for comment from the AP. Silas Malafaia, an evangelical pastor who is a staunch ally of Bolsonaro's, was also targeted by police. He had his passport seized by investigators but was not formally accused of obstruction of justice. Brazilian federal police investigators said in a 170-page report that Bolsonaro had a draft of a request for political asylum from Argentine President Javier Milei's government dated Feb. 10, 2024. The former president saved the document two days after authorities searched his home and office as part of an investigation into an alleged coup plot. In a 33-page letter addressed to Milei, Bolsonaro claimed he was being politically persecuted in Brazil. 'I, Jair Messias Bolsonaro, request political asylum from Your Excellency in the Republic of Argentina, under an urgent regime, as I find myself in a situation of political persecution in Brazil and fear for my life,' the Brazilian leader wrote. On Feb. 12, Bolsonaro reportedly spent two nights at the Hungarian Embassy in Brasília, fueling speculation among critics that he may have been attempting to avoid arrest. Brazilian federal police investigators also said in their report that Bolsonaro's decision to ignore precautionary measures established for his house arrest and spread content to his allies 'sought to directly hit Brazilian democratic institutions, notably the Supreme Court and even Brazil's Congress.' ____ Sá Pessoa reported from Sao Paulo.
