Police are looking for a balloonist who allegedly caused a pair of horses to bolt and seriously injure a woman by flying too low.

The incident took place last summer near Oldenzaal when the hot air balloon flew over a meadow where a number of horses were grazing. The noise of the balloon’s burner, which is used to make a balloon gain height, frightened the horses. They bolted, charging over the woman who spent four days in intensive care with a fractured skull.

She has still not recovered her sense of smell or taste, a police spokesman told local broadcaster RTV Oost.

‘The daughter of the victim could get a good look at the man in the basket so chances are the balloon was flying low and the man is guilty of an offence’ he said.

The man never came forward and police are calling on him to tell his side of the story. They are asking other witnesses to contact them as well.

In 2020 a balloonist was fined €6,800 for frightening three valuable parrots to death by firing up the balloon’s main burner. The noise of the blast caused the animals, worth tens of thousands of euros, so much stress that they expired.