February 26th, 2013
02:05 PM ET

19 killed in hot air balloon crash in Egypt

[Updated at 2:05 p.m. ET] The death toll has climbed to 19, officials say.

[Updated at 6:57 a.m. ET] The death toll in Tuesday's hot air balloon explosion in Egypt - the world's deadliest hot air balloon accident in at least 20 years - has risen to 18, according to the state-run MENA news agency.

Twenty-one people, many of them tourists, were in the balloon when it dropped about 300 meters (almost 1,000 feet) in the city of Luxor, the Egyptian interior ministry said.

[Posted at 1:57 a.m. ET] Fourteen tourists on a hot air balloon ride in southern Egypt were killed Tuesday when the balloon exploded and plummeted to the ground, authorities said.

It was the deadliest hot air balloon accident in the world in at least 20 years.

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soundoff (3 Responses)
  1. saywhat

    Tragic. And to think that it was just a hot air balloon ride.

    February 26, 2013 at 12:00 pm | Report abuse |
  2. BOMBO

    They were offering those balloon rides when I was in Egypt years ago. I declined. Not out of safety concerns. Just because I'm a cheap Scotsman.

    February 26, 2013 at 12:14 pm | Report abuse |
  3. chrissy

    I try to avoid anything filled with hot air myself lol.

    February 27, 2013 at 12:52 am | Report abuse |
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