Four Dutch tourists have been killed in a ballooning accident near the city of Yangshuo in southern China. A fifth Dutch sightseer, the Chinese pilot and his assistant escaped with minor injuries.

Radio Netherlands Worldwide interviewed Ronald van der Weerd, a Dutchman who works in a local hotel. He has spoken to the Dutch survivor of the accident and has read the statement he made to the police.

Mr Van der Weerd reports that a group of tourists had gone on a sight-seeing trip in three hot air balloons. The balloon involved in the accident was making a normal, controlled landing on a small hill.

“Then things went slightly wrong,” says Mr Van der Weerd. “The basket fell over, which in itself is not very unusual, but somehow or other the burner didn’t go out and something caught fire. The pilot caught fire and fell out of the balloon along with the assistant and one of the passengers.” As a result, the lightened balloon flew up in the air again.

Fire
What exactly followed remains unclear, says Mr Van der Weerd. Eyewitnesses at a distance say the basket caught fire - contrary to earlier police reports, the witnesses say there was no explosion. The remaining four passengers jumped out of the basket. None of them survived the fall. The three who fell out of the balloon on the ground escaped with only scratches or minor burns.

The group on the balloon trip were on a holiday organised by travel company Djoser. The identities of the four people who died -  two couples in their fifties - have not yet been released.

The accident took place close to a city popular with tourists, Yangshuo in the region of Guangxi. The area is renowned for its spectacular landscape, and attracts many backpackers. There are daily sightseeing balloon trips for tourists, and in fine weather dozens of balloons take to the air.

The Dutch embassy has sent a team from a nearby consulate to Yangshuo. They will provide assistance to the Dutch survivors and bereaved relatives.