19 TOURISTS KILLED AS BALLOON EXPLODES AT LUXOR
CAIRO, Feb 26, 2013 (AFP) - A hot air balloon caught fire and exploded over Egypt's ancient temple city of Luxor during a sunrise flight on Tuesday, killing 19 tourists including Japanese and Koreans, sources said.
The balloon which was carrying 21 people was flying at 300 metres (1,000 feet) when it caught fire, a security official said.
The balloon which was carrying 21 people was flying at 1,000 feet when it caught fire
An employee at the company operating the balloon said the pilot and one tourist survived by jumping out of the basket before it plunged to the ground. Both have been taken to hospital.
The employee told AFP the tourists were from Korea, Japan and Britain, as well as one Egyptian.
Earlier a security official repor- ted 19 people dead but said they were from Hong Kong, Japan, France and Britain.
Nine Hong Kong people are feared to be among the 19 killed, the general manager of a tour operator said.
“This is terrible, just terrible,” the employee told AFP by tele- phone. “We don't yet know what happened exactly or what went wrong,” she said.
The balloon had been floating over the west bank of Luxor, one of Egypt's most renowned archaeological sites and home to the famous Valley of the Kings and the grand Temple of Hatshepsut.