A hot air ballon carrying 21 passengers caught fire and crashed to the ground in Egypt on Feb. 26, 2013.
At least 19 tourists from around the world are dead. CNN reports that the passengers who were killed in the hot air balloon included tourists from Hong Kong, Japan, Britain, France and Hungary.
On board,in addition to the tourists, were an Egyptian pilot and another Egyptian. It is not know if this person was staff or a tourist.
At this time, the pilot is hospitalized along with two tourists.
The New York Daily News reports that the hot air balloon was flying over Luxor when it caught fire. The flames triggered an explosion inside the gas canister, causing the balloon to crash at least 1,000 feet from the sky.
The crash occurred in a field outside of al-Dhabaa, located about 320 miles west of Luxor, Egypt.
EgyNews reports that Sky Cruise is the company that runs the balloon tour and states that it was licensed and working legally.
The most recent hot air balloon accident in Luxor happened in 2009. The balloon hit a cell phone transmission tower, injuring 16 tourists on board.
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