Six injured in Sharjah hot air balloon crash

Sharjah - An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident.

Six tourists have been injured in a hot air balloon accident in a Sharjah desert. The tourists are from Asia, Europe and South Africa. The incident was reported in Al Madam area on Saturday morning.
On being notified about the crash, the police, paramedics and an air ambulance unit rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to Al Qassimi Hospital.
Ahmed bin Darwish, director of the central region police station, said the air balloon was used by six tourists and the accident led to moderate to serious injuries.
He said the police have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the balloon's fall.
"The speed of the wind or fault in the air balloon could be the cause of the
accident; we can't determine it until the investigation is completed," he said. This is the first incident to take place in 2017 in Sharjah - there were two incidents in 2015 including the one that caused injuries to three tourists. No accidents were reported last year in the emirate.
An official at the Sharjah Civil Defence said the safety of the air balloon or basket parachute must be the responsibility of the company that organises the adventure. Due to several accidents in the last three years in various emirates, the auth-ority is now working on setting up safety regulations to be imposed on the companies to prevent such accidents.
Hot air balloon accidents in UAE
> April 2010: Two people were killed when unexpected wind forced the pilot to make an emergency landing in Al Ain
> October 2012: An attempt to launch a hot air balloon inside a villa in Sharjah exploded and killed two people and injured another
> July 2015: Three tourists were injured when a hot air balloon crashed in Sharjah
> February 2016: 14 passengers were injured when a hot air balloon crashed because of poor visibility in Dubai
Safety measures
Companies will not be given a licence unless all safety procedures are in place.
Safety measures include inspection of the air balloon after each trip.
Company must ensure that the weather is suitable for flying and trips must be postponed if the weather is unstable.
The capacity of the balloon should be considered to avoid overloading.
The pilot must ensure that passengers are not suffering from any kind of disability.

• Sharjah