Video posted to social media on Thursday shows a hot air balloon crashing and bursting into flames in Minnesota on Wednesday night.
Three passengers aboard the hot air balloon escaped relatively unscathed as the balloon collided with a power line during an attempted landing, according to the New York Post.
ROCHESTER: Hot air balloon crash- Units are on scene of a hot air balloon that crashed into a power line on Highway 63 South, near 40th St SW. Initial reports indicate that there were four people on board and no injuries were reported. – A section of ditch was on fire and was… pic.twitter.com/aJgeSeOXoR
— MN CRIME | Police/Fire/EMS (@MN_CRIME) March 21, 2024
The hot air balloon was trying to land in a field next to Highway 63 in Rochester, located southeast of Minneapolis, at around 7:00 p.m., according to local police. Footage shows the hot air balloon slowly approaching the highway before being pushed into the power lines by a sudden gust of wind, the outlet noted.
The balloon’s basket disconnected and fell 20 to 30 feet to the ground, police said. The top of the balloon was spotted drifting away from the scene and was later recovered miles away, according to the outlet. (RELATED: Two Planes, Including A World War II-Era Heavy Bomber, Collide At Dallas Air Show)
The three escapees suffered “very minor injuries,” police said, according to the Post.
Firefighters from the Rochester Fire Department extinguished a small blaze that broke out next to the hot air balloon’s basket after it touched down, the outlet noted. Video shows smoke emerging after the collision.
An investigation of the incident by the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board is underway, the outlet added.
In a separate incident, a man plunged to his death after falling from a hot air balloon Monday morning as it flew over Melbourne, Australia, 9News reported. Preston police recovered the victim’s body in a residential area.