Police reveal ‘desperate’ final moments on board hot air balloon that crashed and killed eight

Police and authorities have shared more information about the final moments of a hot air balloon crash that happened in Brazil this weekend. The incident ended in eight people losing their lives.

Horrifying videos have been posted of the moment the balloon caught alight in the air and began to deflate. The tragedy happened at around 8am local time, on Saturday morning. 21 people were on board, and had been on the trip above the city of Praia Grande.

Chief of police of the Santa Catarina state Ulisses Gabriel said the wind on the day was “quite strong” and the balloon needed extra help to take off. The estimated flight time had been 45 minutes, with the balloon aiming to reach over 3000ft.

via Santa Catarina Fire Department HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

“Despite it being flame-retardant, there was an intense fire,” he told local news. “The balloon went up and, after a while, ended up coming down, and that was when 13 people, including the pilot, managed to get out.”

It’s been confirmed eight people lost their lives, and 13 survived. One of the survivors was the balloon’s pilot. The pilot is reported to have encouraged people to jump from the balloon, as it got closer to the ground. The survivors were taken to nearby hospitals.

As people jumped from the basket, the weight of the balloon decreased, meaning it rose back into the sky. Among the eight dead were four who couldn’t manage to jump out. The other four did jump, but died afterwards.

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As the balloon began to rise again, Mr Gabriel described how passengers began to get “desperate” on board. He said some “jumped out of the basket.” After noticing the fire, the pilot is said to have began trying to lower the balloon to the ground, and encouraged people to jump once it was low enough.

CW: The below video shows graphic images of what happened.

BREAKING: Hot air balloon carrying 21 people crashes in southern Brazil pic.twitter.com/02fvbjSAoN

— BNO News (@BNONews) June 21, 2025

Investigations into how the fire started are ongoing. However, the police did share some lines of investigation they have. The main hypotheses are adverse weather conditions or human error, as per MailOnline.

According to Brazilian news publication Jornal Razao, the pilot believes the fire may have started in a back-up burner stored in the basket. He is said to have explained: “I don’t know if it stayed lit or if it reignited on its own, but it was the torch that started it all.”

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