At least one person died and two were missing after a hot air balloon hit a power line and caught fire over Virginia during a festival, police said yesterday.

Authorities said they had found the remains of one person, and were continuing to search for the others missing after the Friday evening accident 48 km north of Richmond.

Witnesses posted photos online showing a balloon in mid-air with its basket engulfed in flames and a trail of smoke spilling into the sky.

One local described hearing people calling for help from the basket.

“They were just screaming for anybody to help them,” resident Carrie Hager-Bradley told a local NBC affiliate.

The balloon, holding a pilot and two passengers, was one of three aloft at the time as part of the Mid-Atlantic Balloon Festival, said officials.

Resident Debra Ferguson told a local newspaper she looked up after other balloons had landed safely near her house and heard cries of “Oh my God” and then saw a surge of flames.

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