DOSWELL, Va. (WTVR, May 10, 2014)- Remains of one person who died in Friday night’s hot air balloon fire were recovered in a heavily-wooded area near Doswell, Virginia early Saturday morning, according to Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller.
Those remains were taken to the Medical Examainer’s Office in Richmond for positive identification.
Police know the names of the three people who were inside the basket of the hot air balloon when it hit a live power line while attempting to land about 8 p.m. Friday, according to Geller. Those names have not yet been released.
Due to the amount of time that has passed since the fire and the fact no one has been in contact with the other people in the balloon, police have reclassified their efforts near Doswell from a rescue to a recovery mission.
The search continued Saturday morning for the remains of the other two people who were in the hot air balloon’s gondola. Two people were seen either jumping or falling out of the basket shortly after the fire, witnesses said.
The balloon was part of this weekend’s Mid-Atlantic Balloon Festival at Meadow Event Park. The event was cancelled in the wake of Friday’s accident.
