The Civil Police are already working with a main line of investigation regarding the fall of a balloon on fire on Saturday morning (21) that left at least eight dead in the municipality of Praia Grande, in southern Santa Catarina. Another 13 people, who threw themselves from the equipment, ended up saving themselves.
According to Santa Catarina police forces, the central suspicion is that a fire started in the balloon basket itself, possibly caused by a torch that was not part of the original structure of the equipment.
This was the report of more than one of the people heard by the delegate and the team responsible for investigating the case, says the Santa Catarina government.
To help clarify the accident, the State Scientific Police made a 3D mapping of the entire area of the balloon fall with a new equipment, which should allow a detailed forensic analysis of the site.
A task force involving the main fronts of public security in Santa Catarina, such as the Civil and Military Police, was mobilized from Saturday to detail the integrated response of the state government to the accident.
Who are the victims of the balloon accident in SC?
The Government of Santa Catarina released this Sunday (22), the list of fatal victims of the tragedy. Identification was regarded as the priority of the scientific police team that works at the scene of the accident:
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- Leandro Luzzi, 33 years
- Andrei Gabriel de Melo, 34 years old
- Leane Elizabeth Herrmann, 70 years old
- Janaina Moreira Soares da Rocha, 46 years
- Everaldo da Rocha, 53 years
- Juliane Jacinta Sawicki, 36
- Leise Herrmann Parizotto, 37
- Fabio Luiz Izycki, 42 years old
According to the Government of Santa Catarina, all bodies have already been released to families.
Understand the accident in Praia Grande
According to the Fire Department, the balloon burned down while flying and began to fall into an area near a health clinic (waterfall). The pilot saw the beginning of the fire, managed to go down, and jumped next to 12 passengers.
After that, the equipment climbed again. Of the passengers who were in the balloon, four died charred and four jumped, police said.
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The company responsible was to fly over, which claimed to comply with the rules of the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) to fly and said it had no record of other accidents. The company said it had suspended its operations indefinitely.
In a note sent to the report on Saturday, the National Civil Aviation Agency said it verified the situation of the aircraft and the crew.
Traditional fate of ballooning, Praia Grande is near a region of canyons in the southern end of Santa Catarina, about 270 kilometers from Florianópolis. It is called Brazilian Cappadocia, alluding to the region of Türkiye where the practice of balloons attracts tourists from around the world.
