Governor of Luxor apologises for deadly balloon tragedy
City leader expresses sorrow for death of 19 tourists in balloon disaster and says he will follow any directives from inquiry into tragedy
The governor of the Egyptian city of Luxor and the operator of the hot-air balloon that exploded and killed 19 tourists have apologised for the tragedy.
Governor Ezzat Saad also told local media he was willing to introduce tougher safety measures for balloons if an investigation indicated a need.
"I feel very sorry about it and I would like to take this opportunity to send my condolences to the families of the nine Hong Kong people who died in this accident," he said. "We will see what the exact reason behind all this is. Was this a human mistake or an accident? For example, if the investigation says there is a need to inspect balloons daily instead of weekly, we will do that."
Mahmoud Mohtady, who works for Sky Cruise, said: "We are awfully sorry for the loss of lives. God bless them. It's a disaster. It's just an accident."
The operator has been under media scrutiny since the disaster on Tuesday, when its balloon caught fire when landing, rose to 300 metres then exploded and crashed into a sugarcane field.
Only the pilot and a British passenger survived, by either jumping to safety or being thrown out of the gondola.