Man killed in hot air balloon crash in Ombersley, Worcestershire
In a statement West Mercia Police said: “At 6.20am this morning (June 25) police received a call a hot air balloon had deflated and fallen to the ground near the A449 at Ombersley.
“The balloon fell to the ground in a field off Holt Fleet Road, near Ombersley Court.
“Emergency services attended and unfortunately a man was pronounced dead by paramedics.
“The Air Accident Investigation Branch will now carry out an investigation.”
A spokesperson for Hereford and Worcester Fire Service said earlier: “We went out to an incident involving a hot air balloon in Ombersley on the Holt Fleet Road.
“We had a call at 6.23am, crews from Worcester, Droitwich, Wyre Forest, Evesham and Bromsgrove.
“We have left the scene now, but we have left it to the police.”
The man’s family are being supported by West Mercia Police’s specialist family liaison officers.
One witness said: “There were lots of balloons in the sky because it was clear and sunny despite being so early.
“Suddenly there was a flash and what looked like a fireball coming from a blue balloon and it just dropped like a stone.
“We called the emergency services but had difficulty getting through on the 999 number because it was down.
“We finally got through. It was a terrible thing to see.”
Although the tragedy happened on the weekend of the Worcester Balloon Festival organisers said the two were not related.
They said: “There was an incident this morning, under investigation, it was not the festival, it was independent.
“The festival finished last night, it was not connected to the festival.”