Balloon crash in Egypt kills 19 tourists AT least 19 foreign tourists have been killed as their hot air balloon crashed near the famed ancient city of Luxor. An Egyptian security official says the casualties included French, British and other nationals. The official says there was a fire and an explosion and that the balloon then plunged from the sky and crashed into sugar cane fields west of Luxor on Tuesday. Luxor is 510km south of Cairo. Hot air balloon trips, usually at sunrise over the Karnak and Luxor temples as well as the Valley of the Kings, are popular with visitors to Egypt. Sixteen people were hurt, including two British women, when a balloon crashed during a tour of Luxor in April 2009. The balloon was believed to have hit a mobile phone transmission tower near the banks of the Nile. Following the 2009 crash, early morning hot air balloon flights over the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank of the Nile were suspended for six months while safety measures were tightened up. During the break, 42 pilots from the eight companies who operate flights were given extra training. Other initiatives to improve safety included confining all take-offs to a new balloon "airport" and limiting the maximum number of balloons up at the same time to eight - previously as many as 50 could share the airspace.