Ballongulykke i Tyskland 1 - Daily News

Girl, five, dies in freak balloon accident

A young British girl was killed when she was swept away in the mooring ropes of a helium balloon caught by high winds, it emerged today.

The five-year-old girl's body was found around 40 miles from the scene of the "freak accident" at a British Army base in western Germany, the Ministry of Defence said.

The girl's parents are being offered psychological support.

One of them works for the Army at Joint Headquarters (JHQ) in Rheindalen near Monchengladbach, an MoD spokeswoman said.

The accident happened yesterday afternoon during the first day of the base's International Show, which promised a family day out.

The MoD spokeswoman said: "There was nice weather in the morning but during the course of the show the weather changed very quickly and a high wind dragged the balloon away."

It appeared the girl was standing near the balloon and was caught up in mooring ropes which were anchoring it to the ground.

The spokeswoman added: "It looks like it was a freak accident."

The balloon was discovered later about 40 miles away and the girl's body was found nearby.

The rest of the show, which was due to continue today, has been cancelled.

British military spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Helen Wildman said the plan was to lift people up and down with the balloon tethered to a rope.

"The weather was very nice but suddenly it changed and it became extremely stormy," she said.

"The balloon broke away from the rope and flew away.

"Unfortunately, the rope got tangled with a five-year-old girl and dragged her away with the balloon.

She was lifted in the air," she told BBC Radio Five Live.

The Monchengladbach JHQ is the base for UK Support Command (Germany), which provides administrative and logistical support to British forces on mainland Europe, and Nato's Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps.