South African tourist killed after hot air balloon crashes in Egypt

A South African tourist has been killed and at least 12 others have been injured after an accident near the ancient Egyptian city of Luxor.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

05 January, 2018

The deadly accident occurred near Luxor, where sightseeing balloon trips are popular with tourists [Getty]

A South African tourist was killed and 12 other people were injured when a hot air balloon crashed near Egypt's ancient city of Luxor on Friday, a health ministry official said.

Sharif Wadie, the assistant health minister in charge of emergency services said there were no other casualties but did not elaborate on the extent of the passengers' injuries.

Wadie told local media that 20 local ambulances and two water ambulances were called to the scene of the crash, which happened near the road leading to the village of Qena, west of Luxor.

Khaled Mujahid, spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Population, said that all of the victims, who are of various nationalities, were taken to nearby Luxor International Hospital.

Mujahid stated that the woman killed was a 36-year-old South African national. He added that the majority of the injured were suffering from fractures and bruising, however there were two seriously injured passengers. He did not elaborate further on the extent of the injuries.

He stressed that Luxor International Hospital had all the necessary resources and staff to deal with the accident, and all patients were being given appropriate care.


	The first pictures have been released of the crash [Getty]

Officials say Friday's incident was caused by strong winds that forced the balloon off its course above the ancient city's pharaonic temples and tombs.

Hot air balloon incidents have occurred on numerous occasions in the past over Luxor, a popular destination with both international and domestic tourists alike.

In 2013, 19 foreign tourists were killed when their balloon caught fire. Two years previously, the same balloon operator crashed into a boat on the Nile, yet there were no reported casualties.

In 2016, Egypt temporarily halted balloon flights after 22 Chinese tourists suffered minor injuries in a crash landing of their hot air balloon.

Since then, balloon rides are monitored by cameras and banned from flying above 2,000 metres.

The crash comes as another blow to Egypt's tourist industry, which the government has been making efforts to revive after a spate of terrorist attacks against foreign tourists rocked the country.

In December, Russia agreed to resume flights to Egypt, two years after it suspended all flights following a suspected bombing of a Russian tourist jet.

The Metrojet plane crash landed in the Sinai shortly after leaving Sharm el Sheikh, a popular destination among Russian tourists, killing all 224 people on board.