video transcript

Here in Luxor - an ancient town in Upper Egypt famous for its tombs and temples - the site of a deadly hot air balloon crash. At least 18 people, mostly Asian and European tourists, were killed in the crash after a mid-air gas explosion at about 1,000 feet. The dead were from Britain, France, Japan and Hong Kong, Egypt's state news agency MENA reported. A spokesman for balloon operators in the area told Reuters that one tourist and the pilot had survived. He said the accident was caused by an explosion in the hose between the balloon's burner and its gas canister. Hot air ballooning at dawn is a popular draw for tourists - a mainstay of the Egyptian economy. But a series of accidents over the past decade has raised serious questions about the safety of the flights here above the River Nile.