Three people were trapped in a hot air balloon for five hours after their basket crashed into power lines in Northamptonshire, leaving them suspended 45ft above the ground.
Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service said the balloonists involved in the incident had suffered minor burns and been transferred to the care of the ambulance service following the rescue operation.
The hot air balloon crashed close to Bozeat, near Wellingborough. Pilot Adam Griffiths, 18, and his two passengers are not thought to have suffered serious injuries.
The balloonists were stranded for several hours before they could be rescued
The pilot, 18-year-old Adam Griffiths told how the accident "happened in a blur", telling the Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph: “We hit the power line which went with quite a bang and there was a little bit of a fire in the basket but it put itself out as I went to grab the fire extinguisher.
“The other two passengers knelt down in the basket so they were fine.
“We slid down the power line and came to a stand still.”
A brigade spokesman said specialist working-at-height teams had been deployed to the incident, which was reported to the emergency services at 6.10pm yesterday.
The three were left in a precarious position in the gathering dusk, suspended by the pylon which was carrying 132,000 volts.
The three balloonists are not thought to have suffered any serious injuries
Rescue teams were sent to the scene immediately, but had to wait for several hours for confirmation that the power lines were no longer live before helping those stranded in the basket. The teams managed to rescue the trio by 11pm.