Rio de Janeiro (AP)-A hot air balloon caught fire and crashed from the sky on Saturday Brazil The southern state of Santa Catarina, killing eight people, the firefighters said.

The footage separated from the local news exit G1 showed the smoke bytes coming from balloon to flames while retiring to the land in Praia Grande municipality.

In a video on social media, two people can be seen falling through the air as the fire spreads aboard.

Three people died hugging each other, said Ulisses Gabriel, Santa Catarina’s Civil Police Chief in X. “This hurts the soul.”

Thirteen people survived and were sent to hospitals, said the Santa Catarina military fire brigade, adding that 21 people were on board including the pilot.

“We are in mourning. A tragedy has happened. We will see how it unfolds, what happened, why it happened. But the important thing now is for the state structure to do what it can,” Gov said. Jorginho Mello in a video on X.

Mello said he has asked authorities to go to the municipality “to do as much as possible to escape, help, take to the hospital, to comfort families.”

Brazil’s president Luiz inácio Lula da Silva expressed his solidarity with the families of the victims and said he was making the federal government available to local victims and authorities.

“According to the pilot, who is one of the survivors, a fire began inside the basket and then he started lowering the balloon. When the balloon was very close to the ground.

“Some of them failed to jump. The fire rose and the balloon ended up falling,” Lemos added.

G1 reported that the expected balloon flight time was 45 minutes, with a balloon reaching 1000 meters, and cost 550 Reais (about $ 100) per passenger.

Sobrevoar, the company responsible for multi -colored balloons, said it was in accordance with all regulations and had a record of clean accidents before Saturday.

“Despite all the necessary precautions and efforts of our pilot – which has extensive experience and followed all the recommended procedures in an attempt to save everyone aboard the balloons – we are suffering from the pain caused by this tragedy,” she said in a statement.

Sobrevoar added that he was suspending all operations for an indefinite period.

Praia Grande is a common destination for hot air balloons, a popular activity in parts of southern Brazil.

Last Sunday, a balloon went down to Sao Paulo state, killing a 27-year-old woman and injuring 11 other people, G1 reported.