Two Spanish tourists were killed and three others were injured on Tuesday when a hot air balloon carrying 30 people made a difficult landing during a sightseeing tour of volcanic rock formations in central Turkey, officials said.
The Nevsehir governor’s office said in a statement that the unfortunate balloon had taken off from the Zelve ruins in the Avanos district at sunrise.
The accident took place in Turkey’s Cappadocia region, in Nevsehir province, where balloons fly above beautiful canyons and volcanic cones.
It seems that the accident was caused by an unpredictable increase in wind speed, according to initial assessments.
There were 28 tourists and two crew members on board the balloon. The injured victims were taken to area hospitals to be treated, the governor’s office said.
Both administrative and judicial investigations have been launched to get to the bottom of the deadly accident.
The Cappadocia region, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site located some 190 miles south of the capital, Ankara, is popular with tourists for its “fairy chimney” rock-formations, underground cities and churches carved into mountainsides.
This is not the first time an incident like this was happening in Turkey.
In 2013, three Brazilian tourists died and 22 other people were injured after two hot air balloons collided in the skies over Cappadocia.
In 2017, a French diplomat serving in Turkey died in a hot air balloon accident that allegedly resulted from a fight between the pilot and a passenger, according to witness accounts.
The region draws millions of visitors from around the world each year, and hot air balloon rides are among the most popular activities there.
