Three people were severely burned when their hot air balloon flew into power lines in Indiana and crashed into the ground, officials said.
A pilot and his two passengers made contact with the power lines shortly before 7 p.m. on Sunday near Hebron, about 50 miles south of Chicago, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Video of the crash filmed from a vehicle on the road shows a flash of light as the balloon hits the power lines before plummeting to the ground in a field, Fox 59 reported.
“There was evidence on the passenger basket that electrical current passed from the power lines to the basket and injured the three people in the basket,” the Lowell Fire Department, which responded to the scene, said in a statement.
Due to the severity of their burns, the two passengers were airlifted to hospitals in Chicago — one to the University of Chicago Medical Center and the other to Loyola Hospital.
The pilot, who also suffered serious burns, was taken by ambulance to Franciscan Hospital in Crown Point.
The current conditions of the victims have not been released by officials.
The National Transit Safety Board is leading the investigation of the crash.
With Post Wires.
