Witnesses watched in horror as a hot-air balloon burst into flames and plummeted into an RV park in suburban Vancouver, unleashing an inferno of exploding propane tanks.
Two people were killed as their relatives watched from the ground and another 11 were injured after they made the choice to jump from the balloon or die.
RCMP Sergeant Roger Morrow said police would not release the names of the two dead for a few days.
"You can appreciate when this has taken place right before their eyes, I'm trying to give them that extra bit of breathing time to begin to deal with what they saw."
Diana Rutledge was among the 11 survivors and lay Saturday in great pain at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster.
She said she had two broken ankles, two broken heels and cracked ribs, the result of a "do or die" decision to jump from the balloon from a height she estimated at about 15 metres.
The middle-aged woman, who was trying out ballooning for the first time with a friend, told reporters from her hospital bed Saturday she had a bad feeling right from the start.
Ms. Rutledge said the nightmare began shortly after everyone boarded the basket in four separate compartments and began to ascend.
"He goes up a little bit and he goes up a little more," she said of the balloon pilot while she grimaced in pain in her hospital bed.
"He's about 60 feet. I didn't feel right about it. I'd never done it before and once I got in that basket I didn't like it."
Her friend Leanne was right behind her.
"I felt this flash of fire come past my ear and I thought, 'He wasn't kidding when he said this fire is going to make this balloon go up.'
"And then another one came closer and Leanne started screaming, 'Diana, we're on fire. We're on fire. We have to get out of here."'
Ms. Rutledge said things happened so quickly, and she had to make a decision.
"Then I looked out again and because some people had jumped, that made the balloon go straight up. Now we're at about 50 or 60 feet and it was like do or die — jump or perish."
She jumped out with another woman and landed hard, breaking her ankles, heels and some ribs.
She lay on the ground and "there was debris flying all over the place and I couldn't stand and I was begging, 'Help me, help me. This debris is going to fall on me.'
She said she saw some people on fire but the response from those nearby and from emergency personnel was fast.
"The response was so fast."
Witnesses to the Friday night crash described a terrifying scene of chaos.
"I saw the balloon coming down on the front of the trailer and when it hit, it exploded," said Karen Ashby.
"There were flames and fire, people running. Everybody was in a panic. It was a shock. It was like a war zone here."
Onlookers watched as the balloon caught fire and broke free of its tether, shooting up in the air before everyone managed to escape.
The burning remains plunged directly onto a recreational vehicle in the nearby Hazelmere Trailer Park.
Propane tanks from the balloon and from the trailers exploded.
Three trailers were destroyed, but luckily about seven people in the trailers got out safely, said Ralph Zandergen, the owner of the park.
There is little left of the three trailers now, said Mr. Zandergen, and the one in the middle that was directly hit is just a pile of ashes and a few propane tanks.
Mike Braden, 48, a resident of the RV park, said he looked out his window to see the balloon and its basket in flames.
