Nine persons were injured, three of them critically, when a hot air balloon meant for advertising a local cricket tournament burst in the district, police said on Monday. The incident occurred on Sunday evening when the victims were painting an advertisement on the balloon for a local flood light cricket tournament, according to Additional Superintendent of Police, Janjgir-Champa, Vijay Agrawal said.
The event was scheduled to start last night but was cancelled following the incident, he said. As the balloon burst, the people who were working on it and some of those standing nearby got hurt, he said. Suryakant Vaishnav (44), Bhagwan Singh Dhillo (18) and Mahendra Thawait (60) - sustained serious burns while six others were also injured in the mishap, the ASP said.
The injured were rushed to a Government hospital in Champa from where they were shifted to Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Science (CIMS), Bilaspur, for further treatment, he said. A case has been registered in this connection, he said, adding that further investigation is underway.