Hot air balloon incident kills eight in Brazil

According to the governor of Santa Catarina state, at least eight individuals have lost their lives in a hot air balloon incident in southern Brazil. On Saturday morning, Jorginho Mello posted on X that there were 21 individuals aboard the balloon in Praia Grande.

The state government press office reported that thirteen individuals, including the pilot, survived and there are no missing persons. Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) stated it was taking “all required measures to examine the status of the aircraft and the crew.”

“According to the pilot, who is one of the survivors, a fire started inside the basket, so he started to lower the balloon, and when the balloon was very close to the ground he told people to jump,” officer Tiago Luiz Lemos, from the Praia Grande police station, told reporters at the scene.

“They started to jump, but some people did not manage to. The flames started to grow and because of the weight, the balloon began to rise again.

“It later fell because of a loss of suspension.”

The victims included two couples, a mother and her daughter, an eye doctor, and a competitive skater. The survivors were transported to local hospitals. The balloon tour operator Sobrevoar Serviços Turísticos, responsible for the flight, has now paused its operations indefinitely. It stated that it followed all rules established by Anac and had no previous record of accidents.

“Unfortunately, even with all necessary precautions and the efforts of our experienced pilot – who followed all recommended procedures and tried to save everyone on board – we are now faced with the pain caused by this tragedy,” the company added.

In a video also posted on X, Mello, who is on an official mission in China, said he had sent “the entire state structure” to “rescue, help and comfort the families” and was continuing to monitor the situation.

“We are in mourning, what happened is a tragedy,” he added.

“We will investigate why this happened. But the important thing now is to do everything possible to reach out to the people and the families.”

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva posted on X expressing his “solidarity with the families of the victims”.

He said he had placed “the federal government at the disposal of the victims” and that “state and municipal forces ” were working on the rescue and care of the survivors.

Praia Grande, in southern Santa Catarina, is a popular tourist destination known for its ballooning activities.

Pakistan has declared its intention to nominate US President Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize, referencing the influence it claims he had in facilitating a ceasefire last month between India and Pakistan.

On X, the Pakistani government said Trump deserved the award “in recognition of his decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership during the recent India-Pakistan crisis”.

India has rejected the claim that the US mediated to resolve last month’s conflict and stated it prefers to avoid any diplomatic involvement from outside parties.

Trump has frequently implied that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, with this year’s recipient to be announced in October. In May, Trump unexpectedly declared a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after four days of conflict between the nuclear-capable neighbors.

Pakistan’s government said in its post early on Saturday: “President Trump demonstrated great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship through robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi, which de-escalated a rapidly deteriorating situation.

“This intervention stands as a testament to his role as a genuine peacemaker.”

There was no immediate response from Washington or New Delhi.

Trump has consistently stated that India and Pakistan resolved the conflict following a ceasefire facilitated by the US, and that he had leveraged trade to persuade them to reach an agreement. Pakistan has confirmed US claims regarding facilitating the ceasefire, while India has refuted them.

Last month, Trump stated he informed India and Pakistan that a ceasefire was essential for them to sustain trade with the US.

“I said, ‘Come on, we’re going to do a lot of trade with you guys [India and Pakistan]. Let’s stop it,” he told reporters.

The Nobel move was applauded by Mushahid Hussain, a former chair of the Senate Defence Committee in Pakistan’s parliament.

“Trump is good for Pakistan,” he told Reuters. “If this panders to Trump’s ego, so be it. All the European leaders have been sucking up to him big time.” But Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US, criticised the move as “unfortunate”.

“A man who has backed Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and called Israel’s attack on Iran as ‘excellent’,” she wrote on X. “It compromises our national dignity,” she added.

On Friday, Trump posted that he had helped broker negotiations between multiple nations, but despite this: “No, I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do.”