Hot air balloon crash kills five in New Mexico

Five people including two women have been killed after a hot air balloon hit a power line in New Mexico.

Witnesses described seeing the multi-coloured balloon fall 100ft to the ground in a completely deflated state on Saturday.

The passengers’ basket detached and then crashed on a street before catching fire at 7am (1pm GMT), according to Albuquerque’s police department.

The incident cut off power to more than 13,000 people in the area.

No identities have been released but fire officials said three men, including the pilot, and two females died.

Four were pronounced dead at the scene and the fifth after being taken to hospital in a critical condition, police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos confirmed.

Mr Gallegos said the balloon skirted the top of the power lines, sending at least one of them dangling.

Passers-by frantically called out for a fire extinguisher to put out the flames and prayed aloud in footage posted online.

Joshua Perez, who heard the crash, rushed to the scene with another man and helped turn off the propane tank.

Mr Perez told KOB4 News that those inside the basket were not moving, adding: “To see a balloon go down like this, it’s heart-breaking.”

The cause of the accident is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

The NTSB sent two investigators to the scene on Saturday who will examine the pilot, the balloon itself and the operating environment, said spokesman Peter Knudson. A preliminary report typically is available in a couple of weeks.