A hot-air balloon pilot who survived a crash that killed eight people say has revealed his desperate attempts to save those on board.

The ballon was carrying 21 passengers when it caught fire and then crashed in Brazil’s southern state of Santa Catarina early on Saturday (local time), local and state officials say.

It was on a 45-minute joy flight that was supposed to reach an altitude of 1000 metres and cost 550 reais (about $A150) per passenger.

Footage shared by local news outlet G1 shows billows of smoke coming from the balloon, which is in flames as it hurtles toward the ground in the municipality of Praia Grande.

“According to the pilot, who is one of the survivors, a fire started inside the basket and then he began to lower the balloon. When the balloon was very close to the ground, he ordered people to jump out of the basket,” Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper quoted Praia Grande head police officer Tiago Luiz Lemos as saying.

“They started to jump, but some people did not manage to. The flames started to grow and because of the [reducing] weight, the balloon began to rise again.

“It later fell because of a loss of suspension.”

Video on social media shows two people falling through the air as the fire spread onboard the craft.

Those who died were two couples, a mother and daughter, an ophthalmologist, and a figure skater.

The fire department said 13 survivors were transported to nearby hospitals. The pilot was among them.

Footage shared by local news outlet G1 showed billows of smoke coming from the balloon in flames as it hurtled towards the ground.

The crash happened about 8am Saturday local time, military firefighter Zevir Cipriano said. The pilot had tried to land the balloon, but not everyone could jump out.

“These people ended up dying – four charred and another four jumped out of the balloon when it was falling,” Cipriano said.

Three people died hugging each other, said Ulisses Gabriel, chief of Santa Catarina’s civil police force, on X.

“It hurts the soul.”

Governor Jorginho Mello said in a video on X that he had asked authorities to head to the municipality “to do as much as possible to rescue, to help, to take to hospital, to comfort the families”.

“We are in mourning. A tragedy has happened. We will see how it unfolds, what happened, why it happened. But the important thing now is for the state structure to do what it can,” he said.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed his solidarity with victims’ families and said he was putting the federal government at the disposal of victims and local authorities.

Sobrevoar, the company responsible for the multicoloured balloon, said it complied with all regulations and had a clean accident record before Saturday.

“Unfortunately, even with all necessary precautions and the efforts of our experienced pilot – who followed all recommended procedures and tried to save everyone on board – we are now faced with the pain caused by this tragedy,” the company said.

Praia Grande is a favourite destination for hot-air ballooning, a popular activity in some parts of Brazil’s south during June festivities that celebrate Catholic saints such as Saint John.

Last Sunday, a balloon fell in Sao Paulo state, killing a 27-year-old woman and injuring 11 others, G1 reported.

-with AAP