简体中文
Turning now to the hot air balloon that exploded over the southern Eygptian resort of Luxor...
Beijing is now in close contact with Egypt to deal with the aftermath...
After it was confirmed nearly half the tourists who died, are Chinese... with nine passengers from Hong Kong.
PKG
It was meant to be the trip of a lifetime... But it's now one of the world's worst balloning disasters.
The ill-fated hot air balloon caught fire, soaring into the sky, before plunging to the ground - killing 19 tourists.
Nine Hong Kong Chinese were among the 20 tourists onboard when it burst over Luxor - a major sightseeing spot in Egypt.
On Tuesday, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hua Chunying, said Beijing takes their deaths seriously.
And that Beijing is working with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, to deal with the aftermath...
Flying a Chinese work team of officials and tour company staff to Egypt...
Along with relatives of the deceased, who arrived hours ago.
SOUNDBITE(CHINESE) LIU TIANMING, CHINESE EMBASSY IN EGYPT
"We have formed a work team led by the ambassador. We'll work with related departments and the Hong Kong government to deal with the aftermath."
Hong Kong Chief Executive, CY Leung, expressed his grief.
He said: "I feel very sad about this event, and extend my condolences to the relatives of the deceased."
The tragedy comes as another blow to Egypt's vital tourism industry, already disturbed by two years of unrest...
With Luxor hit hard by vacant hotels and empty cruise ships.
And it's not the first tourism tragedy at the Egyptian resort...
In 2009, a hot air balloon crashed into a transmission tower in Luxor.
But safety experts there insist the latest crash, was a one-off:
An investigation into the cause is now underway...
But with almost half the holidaymakers in this tragedy Chinese, its unclear what impact this may have on crucial tourism demand from China.
