Two people died this morning when the balloon they were riding in crashed near Hampton in north-central Iowa. Hampton police dispatchers recieved a 9-1-1 call at 9:15 a.m. reporting there was a balloon down in a farm field three miles southwest of Coulter.
Franklin County Sheriff Larry Rictsmeier says the balloon was starting to come down and hit an east-west power line and the balloon seperated from the basket, and the basket dropped approximately 60 feet.
One person was transported by air care to Mercy Medical Center North Iowa in Mason City with multiple injuries, two were pronounced dead at the scene. Rictsmeier says the three balloonists were from out of the area. He says the balloonists had apparently been traveling in the air for several miles and were from the west coast. The names of the victims are not available.