Courtesy of NBCA hot air balloon carrying tourists in Egypt explodes, killing at least 14 people.
The balloon was flying near the Egyptian town of Luxor Monday morning.
The Luxor International Hospital had received 19 badly burned bodies. However, the Ministry of Health said in a statement that 14 people were dead with four missing and three injured. The discrepancy in the death toll could not immediately be resolved.
Nineteen Asian and European tourists were killed in the crash.
They came from Britain, France, Japan and China.
One tourist and the pilot reportedly survived, they are both listed in critical condition.
There were conflicting accounts of what happened.
A spokesman for balloon operators in the area said that gas tanks caught fire and ignited the balloon at about 1,000 feet.
But an eyewitness, who did not want to be identified, said the balloon was about 12 feet off the ground when a landing rope was thrown to people on the ground. As they grabbed it, the rope wrapped around a gas container, which broke and a fire then started.
Hot air ballooning at dawn is popular with tourists who go to Luxor to visit its temples and the tombs of the ancient kings.
