Three missing as hot air balloon catches fire after 'hitting power lines'

A pilot and two passengers are missing after a hot air balloon caught fire in Virginia, USA on Friday.

Witnesses said they heard calls for help from the balloon basket after it appeared to hit a power line in Doswell.

Police have not yet found the balloon.

Speaking to local TV station WWBT, Carrie Hager-Bradley said she saw the balloon in flames: "They were just screaming for anybody to help them".

The Guardian reports that the balloon had been taking part in the Mid-Atlantic Balloon Festival.

Virginia state police said: "No wreckage has been found yet, and there are no confirmed injuries or fatalities."

In 2012, a hot air balloon was forced to crash land on a Bath city centre road after there wasn't enough wind for it to gain altitude.

The Bath Building Society balloon carried 16 people in a trip over the city for two and a half hours, but got into trouble when it couldn't gain enough height.

Richard Morris, 29, bought his girlfriend, Lisa Camper, 31, a ride on the balloon as a Christmas gift for £150.

She told the Telegraph: "The balloon goes wherever the wind takes it but there was hardly any breeze so we reached 4,000ft and stayed circling Bath for two-and-a-half hours.

"Towards the end of the flight the pilot, called Mike, said he was going to take us down and he tried to find a piece of grass to land on."

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