FINAL FIERY SECONDS: The plunging balloon nears the ground, with some of its passengers on fire.
TERRIFYING TURN: Smoke billows from the balloon as the fire breaks out. The pilot jumped out, allowing the ill-fated rig to soar, and then plummet.
TERRIFYING TURN: Smoke billows from the balloon as the fire breaks out. The pilot jumped out, allowing the ill-fated rig to soar, and then plummet.
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At least 19 tourists were killed when their hot-air balloon caught fire high above Egypt’s ancient city of Luxor and crashed into a sugar-cane field on the west bank of the Nile.
Some of the victims were ablaze when they jumped to their deaths, witnesses said.
The balloon was one of eight on a sunrise flight taking advantage of dramatic views over ancient temples and the Valley of the Kings, where King Tutankhamun and other pharaohs were buried.
Initial reports said the balloon was descending when a landing cable got caught around a helium tube and a fire erupted.
The Egyptian pilot and one tourist managed to jump, but that put the balloon off balance and it soared hundreds of feet higher, witnesses said.
Cherry Tomahey, a tourist in another balloon, watched in horror.
“People were jumping out of the balloon from about the height of a seven-story building,” she told the BBC.
The balloon reached about 1,000 feet before plunging to the ground, according to an Egyptian security official.
Bodies of the victims were scattered across the sugar-cane field around the remnants of the balloon, as rescue officials collected the remains in body bags.
The victims were described as Asian and European tourists.
The disaster raised suspicions that supervision of Egyptian tourism has declined since the revolt that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak.
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