In the early 1990s, the town of Albertville, France, was best known for hosting the Winter Olympics, but on the morning of August 26, 2001, it became the launching point for a hot air balloon that would undergo one of the deadliest crashes in history. According to CNN, the balloon took off rather inconspicuously from an ice rink; from there, it floated its way between the towns of Clery and Verrens-Arvey, comfortably carrying two families.
But given the entire point of this list, it's pretty clear that things didn't stay comfortable for all too long. As the balloon began to descend, it ended up running into some power lines. Upon doing so (or maybe before – a couple of onlookers reported seeing fire prior to the balloon actually making contact with the wires), the balloon burst into flames, making it rise back up. And as those flames roared, they heated up the gas canisters on board; an explosion was imminent. The people on board panicked, with a few of the passengers climbing over the side, yelling, "Come and help us!" at nearby onlookers, per the Independent.
But none of those onlookers could do much aside from calling the authorities for help (which they did). Then, once the authorities arrived, all they could do was find the bodies of the six victims. Two had been seen climbing over and hanging from the side before falling, dying on impact. Two others were found about a mile away, presumably thrown that distance from the explosion. And the last two were found in the balloon's basket, dead due to severe burns.
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