Bodies of Egyptian balloon crash victims identified, return to Japan

The bodies of the four Japanese tourists that were killed in the hot air balloon crash in Egypt last week returned to Japan on Monday, arriving at Narita International Airport. The four victims, two married couples, each in their 60s, were accompanied by nine relatives who flew to Egypt last week in order to confirm their identities.

The identities of the victims have been released, with both couples coming from Tokyo: 66 year old Kazuo Tsuge, the chairman of a transport company that specialized in moving racehorses, and his wife, Harumi, 63. The others were Yasuhide Terada and his wife Asako, both 63. Their relatives traveled to Cairo on Thursday, February 28th in order to view the bodies in a local morgue, as well as visit some of the tourists spots, like the Great Pyramid of Giza, last visited by the victims before the accident that killed 19 people in total.

On Tuesday, February 26th, a hot air balloon carrying 21 people, including its pilot, caught fire and fell to the ground in the city of Luxor, a popular tourist spot. Two people managed to survive by jumping from the basket when it was still at a low altitude, before the fire caused the balloon to soar. Recent years have other balloon accidents within Egypt’s tourism industry, resulting in the questioning of safety standards and the government to call for an investigation into the accident.

Monday 4 March 2013

http://japandailypress.com/bodies-of-egyptian-balloon-crash-victims-identified-return-to-japan-0524513

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HK balloon victims all identified

All the bodies of the nine Hong Kong tourists who died in last week's hot air ballon disaster in Egypt have now been identified. The Chinese Ambassador to Egypt, Song Ai Guo, says he's now liasing with the authorities to get the death certificates as soon as possible so the bodies can be returned to Hong Kong.

He was speaking after meeting the Egyptian Minister of Tourism, Hisham Zazou.

Relatives of the Hong Kong tourists held a ceremony at the site of the crash, near Luxor, on Saturday to remember their loved ones.

Wearing face masks and carrying black umbrellas, some of the relatives broke down in tears during the ceremony.

When the victims' remains would be returned, however, was uncertain. Egyptian, Chinese and local officials yesterday merely said they guaranteed a "prompt and safe" final return trip for the deceased.

The Government Laboratory received the body samples after 10pm on Saturday and announced confirmation of the victims' identities in Cairo at 5pm Hong Kong time yesterday - just hours after relatives paid a tearful pilgrimage to Luxor.

Samples from three bodies and those of family members were collected for DNA analysis, according to a government chemist, Leo Lam Tze-tsun. Relatives had been unable to identify the three in Cairo due to the condition of the bodies, which had probably fallen from 300 metres.

Yesterday, neither China's ambassador to Egypt nor Hong Kong immigration officials sent to Cairo were certain when a flight could be arranged for the deceased.

Senior immigration officer Lee Kwong-wah said discussions were under way with insurance and medical transport companies, the embassy and the Egyptian authorities "in the hope that the bodies can be transported back ... within the shortest time".

The issuance of death certificates was ongoing, Lee said.

China's ambassador to Egypt, Song Aiguo, said he was pressing Egypt's tourism minister, Hisham Zazou, to speed up the process yesterday. Zazou said the Egyptian government would "facilitate all procedures for the loved ones' bodies to go home safely ... in a very short period".

Commenting on the issue of culpability, Zazou said: "Once we get [the results of] the investigation, if there's any wrongdoing, rest assured that they [those responsible] will be penalised."

Zazou also said the matter of compensation would be raised with the operator of the balloon that caught fire and exploded last Tuesday, killing 19 people.

Sunday 3 March 2013

http://rthk.hk/rthk/news/englishnews/20130304/news_20130304_56_906032.htm

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Six of the nine Hong Kong victims in the hot-air balloon crash in Luxor identified

Six of the nine Hong Kong victims in the hot-air balloon crash in Luxor have been identified by relatives but the remaining three are too badly disfigured and will need forensic or DNA tests.

Chief inspector Cheung Wai-man of the Hong Kong police said in Cairo yesterday that three men and three women had been visually identified. Two men and a woman remained unidentified although all three were confirmed to be from Hong Kong.

The relatives of the victims from three families spent nine hours visiting four Cairo hospitals where the bodies of all 19 crash victims are being stored.

They visited four Cairo hospitals with SAR government forensic experts. Police chief inspector Eric Cheung from the disaster victims identification unit said the process had not yet been completed, but he was confident the remaining three bodies would be identified.

Mr Cheung explained that the families had provided photos and other information to help the work, but there had been some difficulties over bodies that had been badly burned.

The relatives had been due to travel to the ancient city of Luxor, where the accident happened, to pay respects to the dead and perform rituals, but have now postponed the trip.

It had previously been stated that it wouldn't be possible to identify the bodies until Monday -- but the Chinese ambassador to Egypt, Song Aiguo, said his embassy had asked the local authorities to speed up the process

Forensic pathologist Dr Lai Sai-chak, one of 16 government officers sent to Cairo to assist the relatives, said some bodies could not be identified visually as their faces were disfigured. "This could be due to the fall from height," he said, referring to the stricken balloon's 300-metre plunge.

Psychologist Rosalie Lo Shuk-yee, sent to Cairo by the Hospital Authority, said the relatives were calm during the identification process.

When an accident unfortunately happens, we are all very sad and what we can do is to improve on all sides to reduce the possibility of it happening again

Meanwhile, Spanish balloon maker Ultramagic, which made the crashed balloon, offered condolences to the victims and their families. But it said balloons were still safe, with over 100,000 flights a year and very few accidents.

"When an accident unfortunately happens, we are all very sad and what we can do is to improve on all sides to reduce the possibility of it happening again," it said. The company said it had been told by a trustworthy source at the scene that the fire that caused the fatal crash was sparked by a gas leak from a hose broken by a rope that was wrapped around it. The rope was dropped to the ground and the hose began to leak when the ground crew pulled it.

"The gas escaping then started to burn and the balloon pilot had some fire in his face and he and another passenger jumped out of the basket," the firm said.

Friday 2 March 2013

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1167635/relatives-identify-luxor-crash-victims

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Chinese families visit Egyptian hospitals to identify victims of balloon explosion

Several families from China's Hong Kong visited hospitals in Egypt's capital of Cairo on Thursday evening to identify victims of a tragic hot balloon explosion in Luxor.

On Tuesday, a hot balloon carrying 21 people caught fire and exploded in Luxor city, about 670 km south of Cairo, killing 19, including nine tourists from China's Hongkong, and injuring the other two.

The Chinese families, accompanied by Chinese embassy officials, Chinese foreign ministry officials and a delegation from Hong Kong, planned to visit several hospitals to identify the victims, starting with Nasser Institute Hospital which hosted three bodies.

"We have three dead bodies here in the hospital, one of whom was identified in the morning to be a Japanese man, another was now identified by the families to be a Chinese man, while the third body is of a female and has not yet been identified but is believed to be a Chinese woman," Osama Saeed, the hospital's deputy director and head of operation department, told Xinhua.

Saeed added that the hospital is currently performing DNA tests with the third body.

The families left Nasser Institute Hospital around midnight, but were scheduled to visit another three hospitals before returning to their hotel in Cairo.

Earlier Thursday, Song Aiguo, Chinese Ambassador to Egypt, said at a press conference that the embassy had urged the Egyptian government for fast procedures to identify the bodies of the victims.

Friday 1 March 2013

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-03/01/c_124401457.htm

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Japan investigation team joins Luxor hot air balloon crash probe

Investigations into the deadly Luxor hot air balloon crash that claimed 19 lives on Tuesday have revealed that civil aviation officials were present where the hot air balloon was parked on Luxor’s west bank, and permitted it to take off. The pilot’s license and the balloon’s license were both found to be valid.

According to the state-run news agency MENA, the pilot, Mourad Momen is seriously injured, and is currently being treated at a military hospital in Cairo.

State TV reported earlier on Thursday that a Japanese investigation team had arrived in Cairo to support the investigation. Four Japanese nationals were among the dead.

Six bodies had already been identified and transported to embassies in the capital, said Ihsan Kamil Georgy, chief medical examiner on the case, according to the state TV website.

Georgy added that three emergency teams had been formed to examine the bodies. The medical examiner has asked embassies to contact families of the deceased for photos to helpo identify the remaining victims. If that fails, the teams will analyze DNA.

An Egyptian youth was also killed when the hot air balloon burst into fire and crashed into a field after falling 1,000 feet, Georgy said. Her body was returned to her family.

Thursday 28 February 2013

- See more at: http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/update-papers-were-order-pilot-balloon-deadly-luxor-crash-officials-say#sthash.QRhjN1z6.dpuf

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Six of 19 hot-air balloon victims identified: Egypt forensics chief

The bodies of six of the 19 tourists who died on Tuesday in a hot-air balloon crash in the Upper Egyptian city of Luxor have been identified, according to Egypt's forensic chief Ihsan Kameel Georgie.

Following the accident, the bodies of the victims were transported from Luxor to several different hospitals in Cairo. Victims included foreign nationals from the UK, France, Belgium, Hungary and Japan, along with nine tourists from Hong Kong.

The bodies have been identified by representatives of the British, French, Japanese and Hungarian embassies. According to Georgie, embassy officials were asked to bring photos with which to identify them.

The forensics chief added that DNA tests would be conducted on the bodies that could not be identified by photographs. DNA samples, he explained, would be taken from victims' relatives and checked against those taken from the bodies.

Georgie added that preliminary investigations had revealed that most of the victims had died from burns or from the long fall from the hot-air balloon.

The balloon exploded at dawn on Tuesday as the pilot attempted to land it following the discovery of a leaky gas cylinder. The crash left only two survivors: Michael Rennie, a Briton, and the pilot, both of whom jumped out of the balloon in an effort to escape the inferno.

Egyptian Prosecutor-General Talaat Abdallah has since ordered an investigation into the incident. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, meanwhile, has drawn up a committee to determine the cause of the disaster.

The last hot-air balloon accident in Luxor, which left 16 people injured in 2009, led to a six-month moratorium on all hot-air balloon activity until additional safety measures had been put in place.

Egypt witnessed other hot-air balloon accidents in 2007 and 2008, but neither of these led to any deaths.

Thursday 28 February 2013

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/65804/Egypt/Politics-/Six-of--hotair-balloon-victims-identified-Egypt-fo.aspx

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Hong Kong forensic experts to examine bodies of Egypt balloon accident victims

Hong Kong’s forensic experts will soon examine the bodies of nine Hong Kong tourists who died in a hot-air balloon accident earlier this week.

The experts – including a forensic pathologist and a specialist in the identification of bodies – are part of a seven-member team who arrived in Egypt on Thursday to join another team of government officers to help the victim’s families.

They will assess the condition of the bodies before helping the victims’ relatives to identify them, senior immigration officer Lee Kwong-wah said in Cairo on Thursday.

The nine Hongkongers were among 19 tourists who died after the sightseeing hot-air balloon they were aboard burst into a fireball shortly before landing in the ancient city of Luxor. Their bodies are badly burnt.


The pilot and a British tourist survived. They were both injured. The pilot suffered severe burns and remained in an intensive care unit in hospital.

The accident is understood to have happened when a cable got tangled around a gas tube and a fire broke out.

Thursday 28 February 2013

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1163077/hong-kong-forensic-experts-examine-bodies-egypt-balloon-accident

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Families arriving in Egypt to ID balloon crash victims

Relatives of some of the western and Asian tourists killed in a balloon accident arrived in Egypt on Wednesday to identify the bodies of the victims, airport officials said.

Nineteen tourists died when the hot air balloon they were riding caught fire and plummeted about 1,000 feet to the ground Tuesday in the ancient city of Luxor in southern Egypt. One British tourist survived along with the pilot of the balloon, who was badly injured.

The death toll surpassed what was believed by ballooning experts to be the deadliest accident in the sport's 200-year history: In 1989, 13 people were killed when their hot air balloon collided with another over the Australian outback near the town of Alice Springs.

The balloon over Luxor, 510 kilometres (320 miles) south of Cairo, was carrying tourists from France, Britain, Belgium, Japan and Hong Kong plus an Egyptian pilot. The balloon flights provide panoramic views of the ancient Karnak and Luxor temples and the Valley of the Kings, the burial ground of Tutankhamun and other pharaohs.

An airport official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said relatives of nine tourists from Hong Kong arrived in Cairo to identify the bodies of the victims.

The bodies of all the victims were moved on Tuesday to morgues in Cairo. The two survivors were being treated in military hospitals.

According to initial reports, the balloon was in the process of landing after 7 a.m. when a cable got caught around a gas tube and a fire erupted. The balloon plummeted about 1,000 feet to the ground, crashing in a sugar cane field. The bodies of the tourists were scattered across the field around remnants of the balloon.

Authorities suspended hot air balloon flights, a popular tourist attraction here, while investigators determined the cause of the accident.

The tragedy raised worries of another blow to the nation's vital tourism industry, decimated by two years of unrest since the 2011 revolution that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The southern city of Luxor has been hit hard, with vacant hotel rooms and empty cruise ships.

Wednesday 27 February 2013

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/families-arriving-in-egypt-to-id-balloon-crash-victims-1.1173933#ixzz2M7a05mne

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Egypt hot air balloon crash kills 18 tourists

A hot air balloon flying over Egypt's ancient city of Luxor has caught fire and crashed into a sugar cane field, killing at least 18 foreign tourists, a security official says.

It was one of the worst accidents involving tourists in Egypt and likely to push the key tourism industry deeper into recession. The casualties included French, British, Japanese nationals and nine tourists from Hong Kong, the official said.

Three survivors of the crash — two tourists and one Egyptian — were taken to a local hospital.

According to the Egyptian security official, the balloon carrying at least 20 tourists was flying over Luxor when it caught fire, which triggered an explosion in its gas canister, then plunged at least 300 metres from the sky.

It crashed into a sugar cane field outside al-Dhabaa village just west of Luxor, 510 kilometres south of Cairo, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

Bodies of the dead tourists were scattered across the field around the remnants of the balloon. An Associated Press reporter at the crash site counted eight bodies as they were put into body bags and taken away. The security official said all 18 bodies have been recovered.

The official said foul play has been ruled out. He also said initial reports of 19 dead were revised to 18 as confusion is common in the aftermath of such accidents.

Two survivors, including the balloon’s pilot, have been taken to hospital, a security official told news agency AFP.

Tourism official Ahmed Aboud said the balloon was at around 1,000 feet above Luxor, famous for its pharaonic temples and tombs of the Valley of the Kings when the blast happened, which Aboud said was caused by an explosion in the hose between the balloon's burner and its gas canister.

Mohamed Mustafa, a doctor at the hospital where the wounded were being treated, said the dead included tourists from Britain, Japan and Hong Kong. Three more were hurt, he added.

Luxor province's governor told Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr that some of the bodies had yet to be identified.

Photographer Christopher Michel was in another balloon, taking some aerial shots, at the time of the crash.

He told the BBC: "We flew over the ancient ruins. Just before landing in the cornfields, I heard an explosion and saw smoke. I think it was the balloon behind mine.

"I wasn't sure what had happened at first. It was only when we landed we heard the full extent of what happened." In Hong Kong, a travel agency said nine of the tourists that were aboard the balloon were natives of the semiautonomous Chinese city. It did not say whether all nine were killed. The information was posted on the agency's website.

U.S. photographer Christopher Michel, who was on board another balloon, told Britain's Sky News television that the balloon was one of eight flying at the time.

"We heard a loud explosion behind us. I looked back and saw lots of smoke. It wasn't immediately clear that it was a balloon," he said.

In Paris, a diplomatic official said French tourists were among those involved in the accident, but would give no details on how many, or whether French citizens were among those killed.

Speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorised to be publicly named according to government policy, the official said French authorities were working with their Egyptian counterparts to clarify what happened. French media reports said two French tourists were among the dead but the official wouldn't confirm that.

A New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said its consular staff in Egypt were aware of the reported crash near Luxor. They were working to find out if any New Zealanders were involved.

Hot air ballooning, usually at sunrise over the famed Karnak and Luxor temples as well as the Valley of the Kings, is a popular pastime for tourists visiting Luxor.

The site of the accident has seen past crashes. In 2009, 16 tourists were injured when their balloon struck a cellphone transmission tower. A year earlier, seven tourists were injured in a similar crash.

Egypt's tourism industry has been decimated since the 18-day uprising in 2011 against autocrat leader Hosni Mubarak and the political turmoil that followed and continues to this day.

Luxor's hotels are currently about 25 per cent full in what is supposed to be the peak of the winter season.

Hot air ballooning at dawn is a popular draw with tourists, a mainstay of the Egyptian economy, but visitor numbers have fallen sharply since a 2011 uprising that toppled veteran President Hosni Mubarak. Two years of political instability have scared off many foreign tourists.

Tourism accounted for more than a 10th of Egypt's gross domestic product before the revolt. In 2010, around 14.7 million visitors came to Egypt, but this slumped to 9.8 million people the next year.

Tuesday 26 February 2013

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/national-news/8355080/Egypt-hot-air-balloon-crash-kills-18-tourists

http://news.yahoo.com/hot-air-balloon-carrying-20-tourists-crashes-egypt-063653885.html

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Slovenia hot-air balloon victims identified, investigation underway

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia said Saturday it has identified the four people killed in Thursday's hot-air balloon crash as Slovenian citizens, among them a couple with their 11-year-old child.

"The fourth person killed was a woman, also from Slovenia," Joze Balazic, head of Slovenia's forensic institute, said Saturday.

The identification had to be carried out using the DNA of the victims since their bodies were found charred in the basket of the hot-air balloon that crashed and burst into flames near Ljubljana early on Thursday.

The accident happened when a sudden change in the weather forced the pilot of the balloon with 32 people on board, mostly tourists, to attempt an emergency landing.

Due to its size and the strong winds blowing close to the surface, the pilot lost control of the balloon, which hit a tree and caught fire, according to eye witnesses.

Out of the 28 persons who were hospitalised on Thursday, six remain in critical condition, among them the pilot of the balloon, hospital authorities said late on Friday.

Slovenian police have launched an investigation to determine whether there were irregularities concerning the flight organised by a private company selling balloon flights to tourists.

Local media reported the pilot did not have a valid flying license and that he decided to take off although the weather forecast indicated possible storms. Police have not yet confirmed the reports.

Sunday 26 August 2012

http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/World/Story/A1Story20120825-367561.html

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All 11 balloon victims formally identified

All 11 people killed in the January 7 hot air ballooning crash in Carterton have now been formally identified.

Coroner Peter Ryan this morning officially confirmed that the remaining five people killed were Howard Cox, 71, and his wife Diana, 63, both of Wellington, Desmond Dean, 70, and his wife Ann, 65, both of Masterton, and Denise Dellabarca, 58, of Paraparaumu.

The other six killed were Chrisjan (Johannes) Jordaan, Alexis Still, Valerie Bennett, Belinda Harter, Stephen Hopkirk and pilot Lance Hopping.

Coroner Ryan commended the work of the disaster victim identification team for presenting sufficient evidence for the bodies to be formally identified.

"The horrific nature of this tragedy meant experts faced a very difficult challenge, but their skill and dedication means we have been able to return loved ones to their families in a relatively short timeframe.

A mixture of visual identification, dental records, fingerprint, DNA and other information was used during the process, and the coroner said the formal identification would allow the families to progress the legal formalities associated with a death.

The coronial inquiry has been adjourned until the police and Transport Accident Investigation Commission investigations have been completed.

"At that time we will see what, if any, questions remain unanswered and then determine the best way forward.

"All the families can be assured that the coronial system will continue to support them and that they have my deepest sympathies,'' Coroner Ryan said.

- APNZ

9:33 AM Tuesday Jan 17, 2012
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10779256

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