Tourists die in Egypt hot-air balloon crash

[Fire Walk With Me]

Source: Aljazeera

An Egyptian official says at least 19 foreign tourists have died after a hot-air balloon crashed near Luxor.

The balloon was carrying 20 tourists, state-run Nile TV said on Tuesday.

Read more: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/02/201322664527875359.html

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(That is the complete article although it may be later updated.)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Oh, how awful.

[Bosonic]

2. Balloon crashes near Luxor killing 19 tourists

Nineteen tourists, some of them British and French, are reported to have died in a hot air balloon crash near the southern Egyptian city of Luxor.

The balloon was flying at 1,000 ft (300m) when it caught fire and exploded, plunging onto fields west of Luxor, officials said.

Two people, including the balloon's pilot, reportedly survived the crash.

Luxor lies on the banks of the River Nile and is home to some of Egypt's most famous pharaonic-era ruins.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21584413



Of 19 killed in balloon crash 9 are Chinese citizens from Hong Kong, 4 Japanese, 2 British, 2 French and 2 remain unidentified - @NBCNews

https://twitter.com/BreakingNews/status/306304681339150337

[Fire Walk With Me]

3. Thank you :(

[ronnie624]

9. Interesting.

There is some confusion on the facts. According to the Aljazeera video in the OP, a gas hose disconnected on the ground, causing a fire, which sent the balloon back into the air. The pilot and a tourist jumped before it gained altitude, and that is how they survived.

[Sunlei]

4. terrifying,a gas explosion when the balloon was 300 metres up. 2 survivors jumped :(

[Lefta Dissenter]

5. Horrible

Thanks for posting.

[catbyte]

6. I've never been up in one. It must have been pretty big if it held 21 people.

What a nightmare.

[sinkingfeeling]

7. I took a dozen or so pictures of the balloons rising on the West Bank of the Nile

back in November. Those rides over the Valley of the Kings are a part of some tours. This certainly will not help Egypt regain its tourism.

[BlueDemKev]

8. God Bless Them...

[Poll_Blind]

10. I heard that the pilot who jumped and (so far) survived had burns over 70% of his body.

I don't know what I was imagining happened but it seems people were trapped in the gondola as some sort of gas fire happened around them. Tragic and puzzling. Honestly, going up in a hot air balloon is something I'd be pretty likely to do. Seems much, much safer than flying in a plane or helicopter.

Edit: More, appears the pilot jumped out when the gondola was 10-15 meters above the ground and most of the deaths are from either burns or impact, but I'd have to imagine fire must have played a major part in the injuries. The only other thing I can think of is I've seen out of control balloons before and the gondola getting dragged along the ground with people in it can be very injurious.

PB