Seven people were injured, three seriously, when a hot air balloon crashed near Goodsprings, Nevada, about 40 miles southwest of Las Vegas, a hospital official said Thursday.
Four were treated and released, said Danita Cohen, chief experience officer for University Medical Center of Southern Nevada. At least one of the patients was taken by helicopter to the hospital, Cohen said.
They were among nine people in the balloon’s gondola when it made a hard landing in the remote area, Federal Aviation Authority spokesman Ian Gregor told CNN.
The pilot and three other people were thrown from the gondola when it landed, Gregor said. As the balloon dragged the gondola along the ground for about half a mile, four more people were thrown out, he said.
John Asselin, a spokesman for the Bureau of Land Management Southern Nevada District, earlier said there was a hot air balloon crash north of Goodsprings, and multiple agencies including the FAA had officials on scene.
