Tourists Terrified As Winds Batter Balloon

A group of tourists said they thought they were going to die when a helium passenger balloon was blown around wildly by strong winds.

Several people were treated for shock after the gusts started to rip the balloon apart, forcing passengers to crouch inside the basket to avoid falling out.

The balloon - a popular tourist attraction in Berlin - is tied to the ground with steel ropes but can rise to a height of 150m (492ft).

One Canadian tourist who was on the balloon said: "We didn't realise, we didn't realise how big of a deal it was. When we first went up there it was really windy and kind of scary but the man who was with us was saying nothing up there.

"We were saying, 'Is this normal?' and he wouldn't talk to anyone. He just said, 'Wait, wait, wait' and then I went up to him and I said, 'It's OK, I'm not panicking, I just want you to talk to me, tell me this is normal' and he said 'No'.

"I said, 'Have you ever seen a gust like this?' and he says 'No'. I said 'You've never seen this in your life?' and he said, 'No'.

"And that's when I was like, 'OK, what the f***? This is a lot more scary than I originally thought it was' and then, yeah, after he told me that was the scariest he's ever seen it, then shortly after the interior started ripping apart, that's then it was like 'Holy s***', if we're up here for more than five more minutes this whole thing is gonna come down.

"We're either gonna die, or the wind's gonna come down. And then the wind came down, so, we're here."

Nineteen people and the balloon's operator were in the basket at the time of the incident, a fire department spokesman said.

Police later confirmed that no-one was injured.