Missing-balloonists

ROME - Scuba divers joined in the search efforts Saturday for two American balloonists who went missing in the Adriatic Sea, but searchers said that hope of finding them alive is fading.

BARI, Italy - Two missing American balloonists were plunging toward the Adriatic Sea at 50 mph (80 kph) when they dropped off air traffic control radar, a sign that they crashed and almost certainly were killed, organizers of the race they were competing in said Friday.

BARI, Italy - The flight director for a balloon race says Croatian radar showed that a missing pair of American balloonists plunged at a rapid 50 mph (80 kph) before disappearing.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - On the eve of a major world balloon festival came word that two of the sport's most acclaimed pilots were missing in a European race, leaving friends and colleagues in the tight-knit community fearful but holding out hope that they would turn up safe.