A source on Friday said a hot-air balloon made an emergency landing in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor, leaving one foreign tourist dead and seven others injured.
The source added on condition of anonymity that there were 20 tourists on board the balloon when it was forced by a strong wind to deviate from its route towards a desert area.
The source said the balloon hit the ground during the emergency landing in the western section of the historical city, resulting in one death and injuring seven.
The person killed was a U.S. citizen and those injured were of different nationalities, Egypt’s state-run newspaper al-Ahran reported online.
Air balloon trips are popular in Luxor, which officials say is home to 70 per cent of Egypt’s monuments.
In 2013, 19 people, mostly foreign tourists, were killed when a hot-air balloon crashed in Luxor.
That accident prompted a two-month ban on balloon flights in the city. (dpa/NAN)
