News - Hot air balloon falls on buildings, 7 injured in Lithuania

Seven people, including two minors, have been taken to hospital after a hot air balloon crashed in Lithuania on Sunday evening, LRT reported. According to the police, a hot air balloon, operated by a woman born in 1986, became uncontrollable due to a change in wind direction, and crashed into buildings in a village in Silute district at 20:30 on Sunday. All the passengers—including two men, two women, a boy, and a girl, as well as the pilot—were injured and taken to hospitals in Klaipeda and Silute. Two patients injured in the hot air balloon crash are being treated in the Intensive Care Unit of the Klaipeda University Hospital, according to its spokesperson. According to the medics, the patients‘ conditions are stable. The hot air balloon pilots interviewed by LRT said that the woman who piloted the balloon is well-known in the community, professional, and experienced, and she often takes part in various hot air balloon competitions. A pretrial investigation into the incident has been launched.