Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
SA man dies in hot air balloon crash
A 34-YEAR-OLD South African man was killed in a hot air balloon accident in the ancient city of Luxor, Egypt yesterday.
The Department of International Relations and Co-operation confirmed that two South African women were also injured.
Egyptian authorities have released the names of the women, but not the man. His family has yet to be informed.
In an earlier report, the Egyptian authorities had erroneously stated that a South African woman had been killed and a South African man injured.
“In fact, a South African man was killed. Two South African women – among the 12 injured tourists – sustained moderate injuries,” said Egyptian Embassy press attaché Ayman Walash.
The confusion arose over the name of the dead man, with Egyptian officials only able to translate his name from an Arabic government press release into English.
“The two women were named as Linda Mpowo and Pretty Geli, both 24, who suffered contusions,” Walash said.
Again, the spelling of the names have been transliterated from Arabic into English and their spelling may not be correct.
Walash confirmed that 16 people, 15 tourists and one Egyptian employee, were aboard the balloon when it crashed at 7.30am, apparently over a mountainous area.
“Five of the tourists were from Australia, four from France, two from Argentina, one from Brazil and three South Africans.”
The injured, two seriously, are being treated at Luxor International Hospital.
The cause of the accident was unknown and further investigations would be carried out.
But according to local media reports, strong winds were responsible for bringing down the balloon, although reports that 21 other balloon trips carrying more than 400 tourists had all landed safely.
Sandstorms lashed wide parts of the country, including Cairo, Sinai and coastal areas overlooking the Red Sea, the national weather forecasting agency said.
Luxor governor Mohamed Badr ordered the closure of all highways linking other provinces because of poor visibility.
Staff at Cairo International Airport said they were on high alert because of the strong winds and storms, though no trips were cancelled or rescheduled.
In 2016, Egypt temporarily halted balloon flights after 22 Chinese tourists suffered minor injuries in a crash landing. – Additional reporting by African News Agency/ ANA