A man in his 20s was killed in a hot air balloon accident in northern Israel Tuesday morning.
The incident occurred near the town of Balfouria, just south of Nazareth, in the Galilee, when a man riding in a hot air balloon fell from the balloon and landed on a car on Route 60. The man died on impact.
MDA emergency first responders were dispatched to the scene, but were forced to declare the man’s death.
Police have opened an investigation into the incident.
A preliminary investigation into the accident found that the victim was entangled on the hot air balloon during takeoff, and subsequently fell.
Following the accident, police closed traffic on Route 60 in both directions in the Balfouria area.
“When we got there, we saw a man roughly 30 years of age lying unconscious in the middle of the road with very severe multisystem injuries,” said MDA paramedic Maor Atgadi.
“He was not breathing and had no pulse. We performed medical examinations but were ultimately forced to declare his death. Some 150 meters away, we saw a damaged car on the side of the road. The people in the car did not require medical attention.”