A hot-air balloon has exploded and crashed in one of the most popular tourist spots in China, killing four Dutch tourists and injuring three people.
As the balloon was preparing to land, it developed a leak, caught fire and crashed to the ground from a height of about 150 metres.
Two Dutch men and two women were killed. A fifth Dutch tourist was slightly injured, along with the two pilots. The pilots had jumped from the basket as the balloon plunged, thus reducing their injuries.
Quite naturally you feel sorry for the victims but having said that what do they expect, I cannot understand what possesses people to go up in balloons, its surely the most dangerous form of flying there is, I have been up in Planes though I am not a good flyer I feel reasonably safe, I have even done a little parachuting when I was younger, that meant going up in a tiny Cessna with no door attached and jumping from 2000 feet. That may not sound very high but believe me when you are up there its plenty high enough.
And even having gone up and jumped out of a plane I would not go up in a balloon, there is something flimsy about the whole set up, and having experienced through parachuting what it feels like to be falling to earth at around 120 miles per hour before your chute opens I would have no desire to experience that again, this time with no parachute to cushion my fall.
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