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Authorities confirmed Sunday that 16 people were killed in the fiery crash of a hot air balloon in Central Texas, saying it will take "a long process" to identify the victims of the worst such disaster in U.S. history. Although the National Transportation Safety Board did not identify the company operating the balloon or its pilot involved in Saturday's crash, two officials familiar with the investigation said it was run by Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides .
'It went up like a big fireball': witness heard popping sounds before hot air balloon crashed near power lines in Texas killing 16 The accident on a rural field in central Texas occurred about three years after 19 people, including nine Hongkongers, were killed in a hot-air balloon crash in Luxor, Egypt A hot air balloon burst into flames over central Texas after apparently striking power lines and plunged into a field, killing all 16 people aboard in one of the deadliest such accidents on record, police and eyewitnesses said. The Federal Aviation Administration said the fiery crash occurred at about 7:40 a.m. Saturday near Lockhart, a town about 50km south of Austin, the Texas capital.
LOCKHART, Texas -- A hot air balloon carrying at least 16 people caught on fire and crashed in Central Texas on Saturday, causing what authorities described as a "significant loss of life." Erik Grosof with the National Transportation Safety Board would not provide an exact number of how many people died.