CALAMITY

Hot Air Balloon Turns Into ‘Fireball,’ Kills Rider

“My wife heard terrible screaming and then silence.”

A man in his 20s is reportedly dead after his hot air balloon became a “fireball” and dropped from the sky “like a stone” in Worcester, England. Witnesses on the ground were watching a group of balloons when they said tragedy suddenly struck. “There were lots of balloons in the sky because it was clear and sunny despite being so early,” one witness told the Daily Mail. “Suddenly there was a flash and what looked like a fireball coming from a blue balloon and it just dropped like a stone. My wife heard terrible screaming and then silence.” The witness added that they had called for first responders but that the 999 emergency services number was down during the early morning calamity. After catching fire, the balloon plummeted from the sky into trees, where authorities pronounced the rider dead at the scene.