Wednesday, March, 18 2026 -Two tourists from London were injured after their hot air balloon crashed into power cables before landing on a football pitch.
The passengers have been named locally as Claire
Wolstenholme, 43, and her partner, Nicholas Wright, 49.
Claire is said to be in a critical condition after suffering
burns from an electric shock.
The crash was reported before 9am yesterday, March 16, in
the Teotihuacan Valley around 25 miles north-east of Mexico City
after the pilot allegedly lost control of the balloon.
The couple were treated at the scene before being taken to
the hospital.
The company that took the two Brits out in the hot air
balloon has been named by investigators as Happy Puerto.
The pilot, named locally as Santiago Torres, was taken in
for questioning by state prosecutors with one unconfirmed report saying he had
been arrested.
An investigation into the accident, which left people living
near to the football pitch without electricity, was ongoing this morning.
Mexico’s Federal Civil Aviation Agency said in a statement
late yesterday: "The Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) reports that at
8.40am this morning, in the municipality of Teotihuacan, State of Mexico, an
incident was reported involving a hot-air balloon coming into contact with
power lines.
"Two people were travelling in the aircraft, registered
as XA-OZY and operated by Happy Puerto, who suffered burns from an electric
shock.
"They were transferred to Mexico City for treatment at
a private hospital.
"The AFAC is launching an administrative investigation
into the incident."
Hot air balloons have been involved in fatal
accidents.
In June last year a hot air balloon caught fire and crashed
in Praia Grande in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, k!lling
eight of the 21 people on board.
In April 2023 a married couple burnt to de@th and their
13-year-old daughter was injured in a hot air balloon accident over the
pre-hispanic ruin site of Teotihuacan close to where yesterday morning’s drama
occurred.
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