A gas explosion set a hot air balloon a blaze moments before it crashed in Egypt on Thursday killing 19 people who were aboard, Reuters reports.
The tragic accident happened in the early morning at the small town of Luxor near The Valley of the Kings, a popular Egyptian tourist site. Officials said one of the victims is Egyptian and the rest of the dead are tourists from Japan, China, France, Britain, and Hungary. The pilot and a British national survived.
Medical officials say the victims died from burns and the injuries sustained from the crash. A representative from the Luxor balloon association told Reuters the explosion was an accident adding that fire began in the pipe connecting the gas canister to the burner.
Witnesses say the balloon was one of eight balloons in flight when it suddenly blew up causing a loud bang.
"It was a huge bang. It was a frightening bang, even though it was several kilometers away from the hotel," Konny Matthews, assitant manager of Luxor's Al Moudira hotel, told Reuters.
An American photographer told reporters he was on another balloon when he heard the blast.
"We heard a loud explosion behind us. I looked back and saw lots of smoke. It wasn't immediately clear that it was a balloon," he said.
Egyptian officials are investigating the accident and have suspended all hot air balloon flights until the cause of the explosion is determined.
"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 told Al Jazeera TV's Egyptian channel.