Facebook screenshot (Longview Fire Department)
After a hot air balloon crash, these Americans found themselves suspended nearly 300 meters high.
The story can send shivers down the spine of vertigo sufferers. Two people found themselves suspended at 280 meters high after their hot air balloon collided with a mobile phone tower on Saturday, February 28th in Longview, Texas. The incident occurred in the morning and was reported by local firefighters on Facebook and picked up by several American media outlets including NBC News and KXAS-TV.
As you can see in the photo at the top of the article, shared on social media by the fire brigade, the balloon of the hot air balloon punctured upon contact with the tower, to which the device remained attached. Rescuers arrived at 8 am and “climbing operations” began less than an hour later, as stated in the Facebook post.
This “successful rescue” was indeed a success: the two occupants of the hot air balloon came out unscathed and were evacuated. However, the ascent of this tower of “great height” was tedious: firefighters took “over an hour to reach” the accident site. Rescuers managed to climb “with the help of several rope systems.”
The two occupants were very relieved to see the help arrive, according to one of the firefighters, who mentioned that the hot air balloon basket was “really unstable” and “swaying with the wind.” According to messages on their Facebook account, the members of the Longview fire station were able to celebrate the success of the operation with a batch of pizzas offered by an Italian restaurant in the town.
