One person dead after hot air balloon crash in Netherlands

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -One person has died and five others were injured after a hot air balloon crash-landed late on Wednesday evening in a meadow in Friesland, a province in the north of the Netherlands, local authorities said.

The balloon was carrying 34 passengers.

"The hot air balloon came down quickly around 9 p.m. and hit the ground hard", Friesland authorities said, adding that the police had launched an investigation into the accident.

A spokesperson for the Royal Netherlands Aeronautical Association said in local media reports that a sudden gust of wind had caused the balloon to strike the ground forcefully, making the basket bounce and leading to five people falling out.

(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout; Editing by Aidan Lewis)