Tourists injured as balloon falls

Seven tourists from Britain and Belgium were seriously injured yesterday when a balloon they were riding in fell to the ground in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor, security sources said.

The five tourists from Britain and two from Belgium had been photographing the city, home to the pharaonic Karnak Temple, when the balloon fell.

They were moved to a local hospital and treated for broken bones, the sources said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The sources gave the names of the British tourists as: Stephen Marten, Johns Marten, Thomson Biron, Maxine Rodi, and Marjery Macqeen. They gave the names of the Belgian tourists as: Yvonne Mislan and Cindy Golans.

Thousands of foreign tourists visit Luxor every year to see pharoanic ruins including Hatshepsut's Temple, dating to the 15th century BC, and the tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun.

Tourism is one of Egypt's key foreign currency earnings, along with Suez Canal receipts, remittances for Egyptian expatriates, and gas exports.