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Witnesses to Hot-Air Balloon Crash Describe Horrific Fiery Crash

Posted on: Saturday, 25 August 2007, 18:12 CDT

By TERRI THEODORE

SURREY, B.C. (CP) - As a hot-air balloon burst into flames and plummeted into an RV park, killing two people, a horrific scene of chaos and a raging inferno ensued, witnesses said.

"I saw the balloon coming down on the front of the trailer and when it hit, it exploded," said Karen Ashby.

"There were flames and fire, people running. Everybody was in a panic. It was a shock. It was like a war zone here."

Family members of the two victims were among those who stood powerless on the ground Friday evening, watching as the flaming balloon crashed directly into a trailer.

Sgt. Roger Morrow of Surrey RCMP said the victims will not be identified until at least early next week to give the family a chance to recover from the shock of what they witnessed.

Eleven people were taken by ground and air ambulances to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Three trailers were destroyed, but luckily about seven people in the trailers got out safely, said Ralph Zandergen, the owner of Hazelmere Trailer Park.

There is little left of the three trailers now, said Zandergen, and the one in the middle that was directly hit is just a pile of ashes and a few propane tanks.

Mike Braden, 48, a resident of the RV park, said he looked out his window to see the balloon and its basket in flames.

"The basket broke and it dropped on the trailer and beside the truck," he said.

"It was totally engulfed in flames. (After it crashed), tires were blowing and a few propane tanks went off and it was just an inferno."

One day later the smell of burnt plastic and smoke still permeates the area and puddles of plastic dot the ground.

Ashby, 50, held back tears while she explained how she watched the coroner sift through the blackened wreckage.

"They found the bodies in here," she said. "I watched them take them out."

Though the scene of destruction has Ashby shaken up, she defended the actions of the balloon pilot. She said both her children and her husband have been up in a balloon with the same pilot.

She said he was very responsible and that "you couldn't ask for a better person that flies that balloon."

"That was a pure accident. Something malfunctioned. Something went wrong. That man would have never done anything if he would have thought there would be any harm to anybody."

The Transportation Safety Board is investigating. Police say it's premature to speculate on a cause.

Source: Canadian Press

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