A hot air balloon carrying foreign tourists is reported to have crashed in the ancient Egyptian town of Luxor.Details are still coming in, but media reports say as many as 19 tourists on board may have been killed.
A representative of eight firms that operate air balloon flights in Luxor said there had been a gas blast while the balloon was at 1,000 feet (300 metres).
"There were 20 passengers aboard. An explosion happened and 19 passengers died. One tourist and the pilot survived," Ahmed Aboud told Reuters news agency by telephone.
The British foreign office told the BBC it was making urgent enquiries with its colleagues in Egypt to confirm reports of British casualties
A security official told the AP there was a fire and an explosion before the balloon plunged from the sky.
Luxor lies on the banks of the River Nile in southern Egypt, and is home to some of the country's most famous pharaonic-era ruins.
BBC
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