Balloon Caught Fire On Takeoff; Survivors Jumped From Gondola

At least two passengers onboard a hot air balloon were lost when the aircraft burst into flames as it took off on a twilight sightseeing flight, and fell onto an RV park in western Canada.

Witnesses to the Friday night accident near the Vancouver suburb of Surrey, British Columbia told police others onboard the stricken balloon jumped from the gondola to the ground to escape the flames.

"The crew loaded 12 passengers and was preparing to launch when a fire erupted. The pilot asked the passengers to get out of the basket," Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Roger Morrow told The Associated Press. "The balloon was tethered at the time, but then broke and came loose."

Eleven people were transported to area hospitals, some reportedly with severe burns. Morrow declined to comment on reports the two fatalities were a mother and her adult daughter.

"It's just tragic. They watched it unfold before their eyes," Morrow said of the victims' families. "The fatalities suffered from burns."

Bill Yearwood, an investigator with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, told the AP the balloon caught fire as it launched, adding witnesses saw the balloon break free of its tether and shoot up into the air before being consumed in a fireball.

"I can't tell you what exactly happened when the balloon was loosened from the tether," he said. "We will be talking to attending crew members and the pilot to find out."

Yearwood said the pilot, who jumped from the balloon, was in stable condition.

Don Randall, a resident of the trailer park who saw the accident unfold, told reporters the balloon "went up about 400 feet in the air at which point it melted enough of the balloon -- it collapsed."

The balloon was operated by Fantasy Balloons Charters of Langley, British Columbia. It was one of several giving rides in the area at the time.

"The company deeply regrets this evening's incident and all injuries associated with it (and) inconvenience to those people being displaced," said Fantasy Balloons spokesman John K. George.

FMI: www.tsb.gc.ca/en/index.asp, www.fantasyballoon.com/