11 people die in hot air balloon crash in New Zealand
AP
Eleven people have died in a hot air balloon crash near the town of Carterton in New Zealand.
Police and witness reports say the balloon hit a power line and burst into '10-metre flames', according to the BBC.
The accident happened int he Wairarapa region about 50 miles north east of the capital, Wellington.
Nobody on board survived, including the five couples from the Wellington area and the pilot.
It appears that two people had jumped from the balloon basket as it was coming down in an attempt to save themselves.
AP
One local, David McKinlay, said he saw it drop from 500ft. According to the Mirror, he said: "One side of the basket was on fire. It was like a rocket coming down."
New Zealand's Transport Accident Investigation Commission has opened an inquiry, but weather conditions were fine and bright, and the cause is not yet known.
The accident is the country's worst air disaster since 1979, when an Air New Zealand sightseeing flight crashed into Mount Erebus in Antarctica, killing all 257 people on board.
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