2 dead, girl injured as hot air balloon catches fire outside of Mexico City

Two people died and a girl was injured after the hot air balloon they were riding in caught fire near Mexico City, authorities said Saturday.

Officials in the state of Mexico, which borders the capital, said the girl suffered burns and a broken arm.

According to a video of the incident posted on social media, the occupants of the balloon appeared to have fallen or jumped from the craft.

The dead were listed as a man, 50, and a woman, 38.  The victims were identified as husband and wife Jose Nolasco and Viridiana Becerril, local officials said, the Daily Mail reported.

"The Cuajimalpa Mayor's Office extends its condolences to family, friends and acquaintances of José Nolasco and Viridiana Becerril who died this morning due to the collapse of a hot air balloon in Teotihuacán," officials said in a statement on Facebook.

The statement did not say whether there were any other passengers on the balloon

The accident occurred near the pre-Hispanic ruin site of Teotihuacan, just north of Mexico City. The area is a popular location for balloon rides.

The cause of the accident was under investigation.

With its Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, and its Avenue of the Dead, Teotihuacan is a popular tourist destination, a surviving monument to the pre-Columbian period.

Teotihuacan was once a large city that housed over 100,000 inhabitants and covered around 8 square miles.

The still-mysterious city was one of the largest in the world at its apex between 100 B.C. and A.D. 750. But it was abandoned before the rise of the Aztecs in the 14th century.

AFP contributed to this report.

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