The balloon crashed into a power line around Central Ave. and Unser Blvd., causing power to go out in the area, Albuquerque Police Department (APD) confirmed on Twitter.
"The balloon hit the top wires -- the gondola of the balloon skirted along the top wire, caught on fire and crashed into the intersection," APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos told CNN. "Unfortunately when police and fire officials arrived they found four deceased on site."
Police are not publicly naming the victims at this time, but Gallegos said the deceased and injured are between 40 and 60 years old, adding that police believe the hot-air balloon pilot to be among the dead.
Of the four people that were killed, two were men and two were women, Albuquerque Police confirmed in a statement.
The injured person, an adult male, has been hospitalized and remains in unstable condition, according to Gallegos.
"They're in pretty bad shape. Doctors at the hospital are working to save that individual," Gallegos said, the Albuquerque Journal reported. "It's just a very tragic situation. Our officers who arrived first on scene had a tough time when they saw what they saw. These things are just horrible anytime they happen."
Power has been fully restored to affected customers in the area of the incident, Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) spokesperson Shannon Jackson told CNN.
More than 13,000 people in the area experienced outages as a result of the incident, according to PNM, which bills itself as the city's first electric and gas operations company.
"Everyone at PNM is deeply saddened by this tragic loss," Jackson said. "We are thinking about the family and friends affected by today's events. We will continue to do everything we can to support first responders in this evolving situation."
PNM was not able to re-energize the transmission line affected by the crash or restore power until the investigation was complete, Jackson said.
Albuquerque Fire and the New Mexico State Police are on the scene, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate what caused the hot-air balloon to crash, according to police.
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Four people are dead and one injured after a hot-air balloon crashes in New Mexico - CNN
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