Three Dutch France residents injured in hot-air balloon accident
A Dutch man was flown to hospital in Bordeaux after being very seriously injured when a trip in a hot-air balloon went tragically wrong on Friday. The two other passengers were also slightly hurt.
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The three, two women and one man who are all Dutch citizens, set off at about 8.00 pm in the balloon from the village where they live, Saint-Saud-Lacoussière in the western Périgord region.
But 20 minutes later they collided with an electric cable and the balloon caught fire.
The man, who is 61 years old, and one of the women, who is 55, jumped out of the basket, falling about 15 metres
The man’s wife, who is 60 years old, tried to turn off the gas as the balloon continued its flight, crashing into the ground a kilometre away, according to local paper Dordogne Libre.
The man was taken to a hospital in Bordeaux, while the two women, who only suffered slight injuries, were taken to nearby Périgueux.
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