2 dead, 18 hurt in hot air balloon crash

23 August 2012 - 16:07
By Sapa-AFP
File Photo
File Photo

Police said six children were among the passengers of the air balloon but were unable to give details about their condition.

At least two people were killed and 18 injured, six of them seriously, when a hot air balloon crashed and caught fire in Slovenia, police said, as media reports put the number of dead at four.

"There were more than two dead," police spokeswoman Maja Adlesic told AFP. "The injured passengers were taken to various hospitals so we do not have all the information yet."

Slovenian news agency STA reported that at least four passengers had died after the balloon crashed into a tree in a storm and burst into flames, and that police were still looking for missing people.

Police said six children were among the passengers of the air balloon but were unable to give details about their condition.

The incident south of the capital Ljubljana at around 8:00 am local time (0600 GMT) involved a hot air balloon carrying 32 passengers, the country's civil protection and disaster relief administration said in a statement.