ALL KILLED.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20219, 1 February 1934, Page 1

ALL KILLED.

Russian Balloon Crashes After Explosion. GONDOLA BECAME DETACHED. United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. (Received February 1, 11.50 a.m.) MOSCOW, January 31. It is officially announced that the three members of the crew of the balloon Sirius were killed when the gondola became detached. Their bodies were found among the wreckage of the gondola at Potijsky, eight miles south of Kadoshkino. Eye-witnesses declare that the balloon was falling when two explosions were followed by a crash and the envelope was torn off. All the instruments were destroyed. The three bodies will be buried in the Kremlin wall, facing Red Square. Yesterday a cablegram from Moscow stated: Ascending unannounced at 5.40 in the morning in a Soviet gondola balloon named Sirius, which was built at Osoaviakhim. a crew of three, commanded by M. Fedeosenko, beat the previous record. They achieved a height of 12.8 miles, from which they broadcast messages to M. Stalin and the Communist Congress. The balloon carried an infra-red outfit, with which it was hoped to establish records in distant photography. They began the descent at 9 o'clock in the morning and are expected to land at Kolomna, 70 miles from Moscow. Aeroplanes have taken off to assist in the landing, as the visibility is bad. The crew state that they have obtained valuable data on cosmic rays. The balloon registered an external temperature of 33 degrees below zero.