Tour guide for nine Hongkongers killed in Egypt balloon disaster testifies at inquest

The hot air balloon on which nine Hongkongers died in Egypt in 2013 burst into flames 10 minutes after take-off and disappeared as staff went chasing after it, a tour escort told an inquest yesterday.

Wilson Au retold the tragic story in testimony at the Coroner’s Court in Sai Wan Ho on Monday as the inquest got underway after two adjournments spanning three years.

The inquest looked into the tragedy which left nine Hongkongers dead in Luxor on February 26, 2013. Ten other passengers, from other parts of the world, also died, bringing the total number killed to 19.

Testifying yesterday, Au, who worked for Kuoni, the travel agency which organised the trip, said things began to go wrong when he and his local assistant, called Mustafa, headed to the planned landing spot shortly after the balloon set off early that morning.

Ten minutes into the flight, he recalled in court yesterday: “Mustafa and the driver’s assistant saw there was a hot air balloon on fire up above.”

Immediately he asked if that was the balloon – prepared by a company there called Sky Cruise – his guests were on. “At the time, none of them were sure if the hot air balloon was the one with our customers on board,”he said.