Mayor's condolences to families of balloon crash victims

The Mayor of Lower Hutt, Ray Wallace, has expressed his condolences to the families of all the victims of Saturday’s balloon air crash in the Wairarapa.

“The heartfelt sympathies of myself and the Hutt City Council go out to the families of all the victims among them Lower Hutt residents Belinda Harter and Stephen Hopkins.”

The Mayor said Belinda and Stephen were a community-minded family and had hosted exchange students from the city’s sister city Tempe in Arizona. Their daughter Riley was also an exchange student who spent time in Tempe in 2009.

Mayor Wallace sent a message of sympathy to the Mayor of Carterton Ron Mark on the day of the accident and yesterday sent messages directly to families of the Lower Hutt victims.