Hot air balloon (Image: Wikimedia)
Authorities in New Mexico have identified the five victims with ties to Albuquerque Public Schools, who died in a hot-air balloon crash early Saturday morning.
NMSP said four of the victims died at the scene and the fifth victim was pronounced dead at the hospital after suffering injuries.
The accident occurred in New Mexico’s biggest city, near a CVS pharmacy on Unser Boulevard and Central Boulevard after the gondola detached and descended 100 feet into a power line catching on fire. The envelope of the balloon was found about a mile south of the crash site on a residential rooftop.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation said Mayor Tim Keller in a statement on Saturday.
“There are always things that can happen, whether its wind, whether its equipment, and it’s something that our pilots always trained for,” Keller said.
Keller added that due to the location of the crash it is likely that hundreds of Albuquerque residences witnessed the tragedy. “This is going to deeply affect our community,” he said.
Witnesses at the scene said when the gondola crashed it was on fire and many bystanders tried to extinguish the fire. A video taken by a witness showed locals yelling for a fire extinguisher and a man running over to put it out.
Victims of the crash were identified as Mary Cisneros-Martinez, 59; Martin Martinez, 62; Susan Montoya, 65; John Montoya, 61; and Nicholas Meleski, 62. All victims were staff at Georgia O’Keeffe Elementary School and Susan Montoya was transferring to another school next year and was gifted the hot-air balloon tickets as a farewell gift that was always on her “bucket list,” according to the superintendent for Albuquerque Public Schools district, Scott Elder.
Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said many of the officers who responded to the scene were sent home because they were too disturbed by the crash.
“It took a toll on them,” Medina said. “In 26 years, it’s one of the scenes that hit me most, because it was just such a beautiful moment that led to such a tragic ending for these individuals involved.”
Albuquerque is known for ballooning and in October a nine-day ballooning event is held that draws hundreds of thousands of participants to the city.
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