British survivor of Egypt balloon disaster recalls events
Michael Rennie tells crash investigators he only survived hot air balloon disaster in Luxor by jumping from basket after gas cylinder exploded
Ahram Online , Friday 1 Mar 2013
A night watchman stands guard near the wreckage of a hot air balloon that crashed in Luxor (Photo: AP)
Briton Michael Rennie, the only passenger to survive Tuesday's hot air balloon disaster in Luxor, has said he only survived because he jumped from the basket immediately after the pilot.
The balloon exploded as the pilot, the second survivor, attempted to land following the discovery of a leaky gas cylinder. The crash resulted in 19 deaths.
Speaking to Egyptian crash investigators, Rennie said the balloon went up in flames only three seconds after the gas leak started.
He said he did not think he would survive the fire.
A previous hot air balloon accident in Luxor, which injured 16 people in 2009, led to a six-month moratorium on all hot air balloon activity in Egypt 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.
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