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Ernest Kao

The South China Morning Post was able to confirm the names of the nine Hong Kong tourists who died in the Egyptian city of Luxor on Tuesday after a hot air-balloon they were in burst into flames. 
The list of dead included three Hong Kong families. The youngest victim was 33 and the oldest 62.

Japanese, British, French and Hungarian nationals were also among those killed in the tragedy. 
Six other Hongkongers, who were in the same tour group but not on the hot-air balloon, were also named.
Some 19 people died on Tuesday after the hot-air balloon they were travelling on as part of a sightseeing tour in Egypt’s fabled city of Luxor was set on fire from a suspected gas explosion. The balloon then crashed into a sugar cane field.  
The bodies have been transfered to the Egypt's capital Cairo.
	 
List of Hong Kong victims




				Name

				Sex

				Age



				Family 1



				Siu Chi-man

				M

				37



				Kwan Pui-man Eleni 

				F

				37



				Family 2



				Poon Lau-tim

				M

				62



				To Sau-ching

				F

				58



				Carmen Poon Tak-sze

				F

				33



				Family 3



				Ho Oi-ying

				F

				58



				Ho Oi-hing

				M

				60



				Ho Oi-ming

				M

				54



				Tang Yuk-ling

				F

				59



The tourists were just seconds from landing when disaster struck.
A pilot who was only 100 metres from the ill-fated balloon, has told how it was just three metres off the ground when a gas fire broke out.
The balloon pilot described how in those last frantic seconds, the 20 passengers and the pilot on board the vessel, operated by a company called Sky Cruise, were only moments from landing after a breathtaking aerial tour of the capital of ancient Egypt when tragedy struck.
In the last frantic seconds of the doomed flight, the 20 passengers watched in horror as their pilot jumped from the basket three metres from the ground, his body engulfed in flames.
"His face, arms and stomach were on fire," said Mohamed Yousses, 27, who was flying a balloon only 100 metres away and witnessed the tragic events as they unfolded.
"He was trying to land but there was a gas leak which caused a fire in the basket."
Some news reports said the fire broke out as the balloon was flying at 300 metres, but Yousses, speaking to the South China Morning Post by telephone, said it caught fire closer to the ground.
He said a Chinese man in his mid-30s escaped moments after the pilot because he was standing closest to the edge of the basket.
The suspected gas leak then caused the balloon to shoot back up in the air, with the fire tearing through the thin material.
"After about 10 or 15 seconds, there was a gas explosion," Yousses said. "It all happened in less than a minute. I have never seen something like this happen before."
He said that after the balloon ascended he saw five or six people jump out of the basket to escape the flames, only to fall to their deaths.
Yousses said he landed his balloon about five minutes later and rushed to the scene. "The pilot is my friend so I went to the location, but he had gone to the hospital already," he said.
The Sky Cruise pilot suffered severe burns to 70 per cent of his body and is understood to have been transferred to a hospital in Cairo together with the other survivor.
Another pilot flying near the Sky Cruise balloon said weather conditions yesterday morning were ideal for flying.
"It was very calm conditions today, not like yesterday when it was windy and we couldn't fly," said the pilot. "I was about 150 metres away but I was concentrating on landing my balloon so I couldn't look behind, but when I did I saw smoke."
Photographer Christopher Michel was in another balloon when he heard a loud bang.
"We were approaching our landing, about three to four minutes, coming down in a remote field outside Luxor when I heard a loud explosion behind us and looked back and saw lots of smoke," he told Sky News.
"It wasn't immediately clear it was a balloon. Then we could see the reaction of the pilot on our balloon and he said this hadn't happened for a long time.
"He said to look forward. We landed and saw the emergency services. It's really, really tragic and everybody involved is in a lot of shock."
Warning: Viewer discretion is advised due to the graphic nature of this eyewitness video shot by a passenger onboard a nearby balloon at the time of the accident.

Kuoni's general manager for sales and marketing, Raymond Ng, said his company had booked balloon rides with Sky Cruises for five years.
"We have a set of criteria when it comes to which hot-air balloon company we use. Most importantly, the company needs to be well-known, and has taken enough safety procedures," Ng said.
The balloon ride was an optional activity costing US$190 per person and the nine victims were part of a group of 15 Hongkongers on a 10-day HK$11,000 package tour which began last Friday. The six other tourists in the group as well as the tour guide did not join the balloon ride.
Staff members as well as four Immigration Department officers will accompany 10 family members to Luxor today.
A government spokesman said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would send a five-member team and a deputy director-general to Egypt.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said last night that the government did not have first-hand information on the incident yet, adding: "I feel very saddened. I send my deepest condolences to the [victims'] relatives."

 


Relatives of deceased Hong Kong victims in Egypt hot-air balloon crash seek over HK$10.6m from travel agency

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Hong Kong man’s torment and frustrations in handling death of brother in Egypt balloon tragedy

Hong Kong Travel Industry Council, Kuoni criticised over reaction to Egypt hot air balloon fire

Egypt balloon tragedy

Names of Hong Kong victims in Egypt balloon tragedy released

Medical workers carry the body of a victim from the balloon explosion upon arrival in Cairo. Photo: Xinhua

The charred remains of the hot air-balloon's gondola at the site of the crash. Photo: AP

Nine Hongkongers killed in Egypt's Luxor balloon tragedy

Police and rescue officials check the wreckage of the hot-air balloon that crashed in Luxor killing 19 tourists. Photo: Reuters

A resident walks past the wreckage of a hot air balloon that crashed in Luxor. Photo: Reuters

The ill-fated Sky Cruise balloon, moments before it plummeted to the ground. Picture taken by passenger on another balloon.

Victims' bodies arrive in Cairo on Tuesday night after a Luxor balloon crashed on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua

Tour agencies suspend balloon trips after Luxor tragedy

The bodies of victims in bags. All eight balloon operators in Luxor are understood to have suspended activities. Photo: Reuters

A balloon floats over the Temple of Hatshepsut in Thebes, Egypt.

The crash balloon (second from left) before it took off on its ill-fated flight. Photo: AP/Christopher Michel

Balloon tragedy latest in long line for Hong Kong tourists

The 2006 bus accident in Egypt, in which 14 Hongkongers died.

News

Hong Kong

The list of dead in the tragic balloon accident in Egypt's Luxor included three Hong Kong families. The youngest victim was 33 and the oldest 62.


Names of Hong Kong victims in Egypt balloon tragedy released

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The list of dead in the tragic balloon accident in Egypt's Luxor included three Hong Kong families. The youngest victim was 33 and the oldest 62.

The list of dead in the tragic balloon accident in Egypt's Luxor included three Hong Kong families. The youngest victim was 33 and the oldest 62.