Tuesday, 26th February 2013 – A hot air balloon crashed near the Egyptian town of Luxor on Tuesday, killing 19 tourists who were aboard.
Luxor is 510 kilometres south of Cairo, Egypt’s capital.
The Air Balloon Crash happened after a gas explosion at 1,000 feet. The tourists were from a variety of countries.
“There were 20 passengers aboard. An explosion happened and 19 passengers died. One tourist and the pilot survived,” said Spokesman Ahmed Aboud who is the representative of eight companies that operate balloons in Luxor.
Photo: Christopher Michel
The accident happened over the west bank of the Nile river. Hot air ballooning at dawn is popular with tourists who go to Luxor to visit its pharaonic temples and the tombs of the Valley of the Kings, including in Tutankhamun’s.
Ezzat Saad, the governor of Luxor, told Nile News that there were three people in hospital, including the Egyptian pilot of the balloon who suffered from 70 percent burns.
Saad listed the nationalities of the people on board as nine from Hong Kong; four Japanese; two Belgians; two British; two French; one Egyptian, in addition to the Egyptian pilot. But an Employee of Balloon operating company said that the tourists were from Korea, Japan, Britain, and Egypt.
The balloon crashed into a sugar cane field after an explosion caused by a fire. It was flying at an altitude of 300 meters when the accident occurred.
The site attracts tens of thousands of tourists from all over the world annually.
Sources:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/26/us-egypt-luxor-balloon-idUSBRE91P04S20130226
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/02/201322664527875359.html
http://rt.com/news/egypt-luxor-tourists-balloon-449/
