A hot air balloon carrying tourists in Egypt's city of Luxor caught fire Tuesday, Feb. 26, causing the air craft to crash into a sugar cane field according to the Associated Press. At least 19 passengers onboard were killed in one of the world's deadliest air balloon accidents ever.
The balloon was carrying 20 tourists from places like Egypt, France, Belgium, Japan. The accident caused authorities to suspend all hot air balloon flights as investigators work to figure out the cause.
The crash has caused many accusations by local authorities that have let safety standards fall during political instability since 2011. The Egyptian civil aviation chief insists however that his ministry "keeps stringent inspections" over all air balloons.
"There is no oversight, and no one is checking anything. I don't want to blame the revolution for everything but the laxness started with the revolution," said Mohammed Osman, head of the Luxor's Tourism Chambers to the Associated Press. "These people are not doing their job, they are not checking the balloons and they just issue the licenses without inspection."
The balloon was about to land at around 7 a.m. when a landing cable reportedly got stuck around a helium tube which started a fire according to the Associated Press.
The balloon then soured up into the air as the fire set off an explosion of a gas canister. The balloon then fell approximately 1,000 to the ground crashing into a sugar cane field outside of al-Dhbaa village, 320 miles south of Cairo according to local officials.
"I saw tourists catching fire and they were jumping from the balloon. They were trying to flee the fire but it was on their bodies," said Hassan Abdel-Rasoul, a farmer in al-Dhabaa to the Associated Press. He said one of those he saw on fire was a visibly pregnant woman.
The crash killed 18 people according to Luxor's governor, Ezzat Saad. Two other passengers and the pilot were taken to a local hospital, but one died shortly after from sustained injuries. The last passenger and the pilot suffered severe burns, and no word has been released on their current condition.
This is the largest crash since 1989 when 13 people were killed when their hot air balloon collided with another over the Australian outback.
"We cannot say whether this was because of maintenance or human (error) until the investigation committee is completely done with its investigation," Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Wael el-Maadawi said to Al Jazeera TV's Egyptian channel according to Reuters.
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