Egyptian authorities on Saturday ordered a four-day detention of the pilot and three other officials from the hot air balloon that crashed on Friday killing a 36-year-old South African tourist and injured 15 others.
Local Ahram Online reports that a Luxor prosecutor issued the detention order after hearing testimonies from officials of the operating company, other hot air balloon pilots, the injured passengers and eyewitnesses.
Following the Friday crash, Egypt’s civil aviation ministry said the balloon, which was in the air alongside 22 other balloons owned by different companies, deviated from its designated path before crashing.
The ministry said that all the other balloons, which were carrying over 400 passengers, landed safely.
Luxor authorities had initially attributed the crash to bad weather.
The civil aviation ministry has formed a technical committee to investigate the incident.
Hot air balloon companies operate daily flights throughout the year in Luxor.
