DEADLY HOT AIR BALLOON CRASH IN EGYPT KILLS SA TOURIST

An Egyptian health ministry official has said that a South African was killed and 12 others injured when a hot air balloon crashed near Egypt's ancient city of Luxor on Friday.

The assistant health minister in charge of emergency services, Sharif Wadie, confirmed no other casualties but did not report on the scope of the passengers' injuries.

When confirming the accident, Luxor governor, Mahmoud Badr, told AFP "he was at a hospital in the city checking on passengers taken there, and that a statement would be released soon".

This is not the first incident involving hot air balloons in Luxor. In 2013, 19 tourists were killed when the hot air balloon they were travelling in caught fire in mid-flight and was later blamed on a gas leak.
Fours years earlier a hot air balloon crashed after striking a communications mast, injuring the foreign tourists on board.