16 die in hot air balloon crash in Texas

At least 16 people were killed on Saturday morning after a hot air balloon caught fire and crashed near Lockhart, a city in the central part of the US state of Texas.

The accident occurred shortly after 7.40 am local time on Saturday near Lockhart, when the hot air balloon with at least 16 people on board crashed into a pasture, Xinhua news agency quoted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as saying in a statement on Saturday.

Local police also confirmed the accident, saying in a statement that "the balloon was occupied and it does not appear at this time that there were any survivors of the crash", according to local TV station ABC13.