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Hot air balloon crash-lands into a crowd at a Missouri festival, injuring one

Posted at 8:28 AM, Jun 23, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-23 11:28:59-04

Festivities at a hot air balloon festival in Missouri abruptly turned into fright as one of the balloons botched its landing and crashed into crowd of spectators.

A young girl suffered minor injuries after the balloon crashed through some tree limbs and struck spectators at the Hannibal Bicentennial Celebration on Saturday evening.

An "experienced balloonist" was attempting to land when the hot air balloon grazed a tree, tipping the basket, the event committee told CNN affiliate KHQA.

"Thankfully, there were no serious injuries, and the event continued," the committee said in a statement.

Stephanie Haught said she barely got out of the way before the balloon crashed. In a video she posted to Facebook, the balloonist is seen waving for people to get out of the way as the balloon descends.

Another event attendee told KHQA the basket hit the ground right behind him and "ran over his mother." Other than a small cut on her finger his mother is fine, he said.