UPDATE | Officials: No apparent survivors in Texas balloon crash

LOCKHART, Texas (AP) — A hot air balloon carrying at least 16 people caught on fire and crashed in Central Texas today, and there did not appear to be any survivors, authorities said.

Authorities would not confirm the exact number of deaths, but Lynn Lunsford with the Federal Aviation Administration said the balloon was carrying at least 16 people and the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that it didn't look like anyone survived.

If 16 people were killed, it would be the one of the worst such disasters, possibly the worst in U.S. history. The deadliest such disaster happened in February 2013, when a balloon flying over Luxor, Egypt, caught fire and plunged 1,000 feet to the ground, crashing into a sugar cane field and killing at least 19 foreign tourists

Today's crash happened at about 7:40 a.m. in a pasture near Lockhart, which is about 30 miles south of Austin.

Authorities have not said where the balloon was based out of or which company was flying it, though Caldwell County Sheriff Daniel C. Law told The Associated Press that it's the kind of situation where people can walk up and buy a ticket, unlike an airplane, which would have a list of names.