Inquest into Egypt balloon tragedy could start at end of year

The Hong Kong Coroner's Court is to hold an inquest into last year's hot-air balloon tragedy in Egypt which cost the lives of nine tourists from the city.

It is understood the inquest will not start until late this year at the earliest, according to relatives of the deceased who attended a pre-hearing briefing at the Sai Wan Ho court yesterday.

"We want to find out what happened - from start to finish," said Siu Chi-keung, whose brother Siu Chi-man and sister-in-law Eleni Kwan Pui-man, both aged 37, died in the accident. But he added: "We don't have high expectations."

About 20 witnesses will be summoned, according to police sources. One of the two survivors, Briton Michael Rennie, was understood to have refused to take part due to his "reluctance to renew his memories about the tragedy".

The other survivor was the balloon pilot, Egyptian Moman Mourad. He is involved in a criminal investigation into the accident and cannot attend. The majority of witnesses to be summoned will be locals, including hot-air balloon experts, representatives from Kuoni which organised the ill-fated tour to Egypt, police officers who have been sent to Egypt, and relatives of the dead, said lawmaker Kwok Wai-keung, who has been assisting the families involved.

So far, the Egyptian aviation authority has concluded a technical report on the accident. It suggested that a fuel leak caused by a faulty gas hose caused the balloon to catch fire moments before it landed. The balloon then shot up skywards in flames before crashing back down.