A mother-of-two has died after being thrown from the basket of a hot air balloon in Hartbeespoort‚ according to reports.
She was identified as Susan Astle‚ 48‚ who was with her husband and two young sons‚ according to Metro.co.uk. She fell 20 feet when the basket flipped in high winds as it came into land at Mooinooi‚ the publication said.
Astle died in hospital after succumbing to serious head injuries‚ British media reports said.
Emergency services Netcare 911 and the Hartebeespoort EMS had attended to the accident on Tuesday‚ with Netcare saying at the time that 14 people were on board the hot air balloon when it crashed in Buffelsfontein near the Buffelspoort dam close to Rustenburg in North West.
Three people were injured‚ the Hartebeespoort EMS said‚ including a 4-year-old girl.
The girl‚ from Pretoria‚ was airlifted by an emergency chopper to hospital in Johannesburg. Her mother and a British tourist both sustained serious injuries and were rushed to hospital in Brits‚ the local EMS said.
British reports said Astle and the little girl were thrown out of the basket. Her mother fell as the basket was dragged along the rocks and smashed into a tree.
Survivor Olivia Denny told The Sun: "The wind swept us away. It felt like driving backwards in a car at 40km/h."
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