DStv Channel 403 Saturday, 11 January 2025

Two die after hot-air balloon catches fire in Mexico

Hot-air balloons are seen flying over the Teotihuacan archeological site, not far from Mexico City, in March 2023

MEXICO CITY - Two people have died after a hot-air balloon flying near Mexico's famed Teotihuacan archeological site caught fire, the government said.

"The passengers jumped from the balloon," the government of the state of Mexico said in a statement, adding that a child suffered burns.

It identified the victims as a 39-year-old woman and a 50-year-old man, without providing their names. It said the minor had suffered second-degree burns to the face as well as a fracture of the right femur.

It did not say whether there were any other passengers on the balloon.

A video posted on social media shows the balloon's gondola on fire, in a perfectly clear sky.

Several tour operators offer balloon flights over Teotihuacan, some 70 kilometres northeast of Mexico City, for around $150.

With its Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, and its Avenue of the Dead, Teotihuacan is a popular tourist destination, a surviving monument to the pre-Columbian period. 

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