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HOUSTON, July 30 (Xinhua) -- At least 16 people were killed on Saturday after a hot air balloon caught fire and crashed into a pasture near Lockhart, a city in the central part of the southern U.S. state of Texas.
The accident, the deadliest of its kind in the U.S. history, happened shortly after 7:40 a.m. (1240 GMT) on Saturday near Lockhart, a city about 50 km south of the Lone Star State capital of Austin, when the hot air balloon carrying at least 16 people crashed, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed in a statement.
Local police also said that the balloon was occupied and it did not appear at that time that there were any survivors of the crash.
When a Xinhua correspondent arrived at the scene, where a heavy police presence could be seen, investigators from the FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Department of Public Safety of Texas and the parties concerned were busy searching for evidence to handle the accident.
The Xinhua correspondent tried hard to reach the site from another road also blocked by the police. Before being forced out of the site, the Xinhua correspondent saw the wreckage of the crashed hot air balloon.
The police gave no further details about the identities of the victims.
A female witness said she saw the balloon burning like a fireball, adding that the fireball then went up as high as those lower electric lines.
FAA and NTSB officials will investigate whether Saturday's accident was due to a mechanical error or a pilot error.
The pilot flying the balloon was confirmed to be Skip Nichols, who was reportedly an experienced pilot and the owner of the Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides, which is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and has a D plus rating.
The authorities have described the balloon accident as the deadliest of its kind in the country's history and a "significant loss of life." There have been 69 severe hot air balloon accidents since 1964 in the United States, claiming 116 lives altogether.
This is also the deadliest balloon accident in the world since Egypt had a hot air balloon accident in 2013 with at least 19 people killed.
Calling this accident a heartbreaking tragedy, Texas Governor Greg Abbott urged all Texans to pray for the victims.
With additional investigators joining the team, the cause of the accident is expected to be discovered in the following days.
