Hot-air balloon accident kills 1 in Turkey

[May 29, 2009]  ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- A hot-air balloon crashed Friday in central Turkey, killing a British tourist and injuring nine other passengers in Cappadocia, where many tourists take rides above area's volcanic cones.

"The injured were mostly Britons," mayor Nuri Cingil said by telephone, confirming the death toll. He said 11 people, including the pilot, were on a balloon operated by a British company.

Cingil would not comment further and hometowns of the passengers were not available.

Several tourists were lying on stretchers in the corridors of a local hospital, according to HaberTurk television footage. Some reportedly suffered broken bones.

The cause of the accident was under investigation.

Cappadocia is famed for its volcanic cones, called "fairy chimneys," that are so soft the Byzantine Greeks carved subterranean cities out of them more than 1,000 years ago.

[Associated Press; By SUZAN FRASER]

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