18 tourists killed in balloon explosion in Egypt
CAIRO - A total of 18 tourists were killed and three others injured in a balloon explosion Tuesday morning in Egypt's Luxor governorate, a health official told Xinhua.
"Eighteen tourists including nine from China's Hong Kong, four Japanese, two British, two French, one Egyptian, and one Hungarian have been killed in the accident," Abul Naga Abdel-Rady, head of the Luxor's Ambulance Authority, told Xinhua.
Meanwhile, the state-run MENA news agency reported the same fatal casualties, quoting the Health Ministry.
The balloon was carrying a total of 21 people, including a pilot, who reportedly managed to survive and was among the three injured, local media outlets said.
Eyewitnesses living near the accident scene said they were waken up in the early morning by the explosive sound and saw the balloon blazing in the air and charred dead bodies falling.
Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister Wael el-Maadawi was quoted by MENA as saying that the company owning the exploded balloon "Sky Cruise" had passed a routine inspection earlier this month. However, a security source said that an initial examination after the accident revealed that the balloon was in a very bad condition and was unsuitable to fly.
Luxor governor Ezzat Saad has decided to suspend the business of balloons companies and ordered the companies to cancel all the arranged balloon trips. Prosecution in the governorate has started investigation into the accident.
The official al-Ahram online quoted a source in "Sky Cruise" company as saying that the hose attached to the gas tanks was cut while some workers were trying to tug the rope of the balloon during landing, which led to the explosion.
"After the hose had been cut, the tanks exploded, and the balloon rose up in the air for 400 meters and got ablaze with 19 tourists inside," the source added.
In 2009, a balloon impinged with a tower of mobile phone network on a building roof and fell down in the west bank of Nile River in Luxor, leaving 19 people injured.
