At least 19 tourists, including two Britons, have been killed in a hot air balloon crash in the Egyptian city of Luxor.

The victims also include tourists from France and Japan, although full details of the victims' nationalities are still to emerge.

The hotair balloon was flying at around 1,000 ft (300 m) above the village of Qurna, in Luxor's west bank, when it caught fire and exploded. The tattered wreckage then crashed into sugarcane fields.

"There were 20 passengers aboard. An explosion happened and 19 passengers died. One tourist and the pilot survived," Ahmed Aboud, spokesperson for the firm operating balloons, told Reuters.

According to local sources, the two survivors have been taken to a nearby hospital.

Luxor is nearly 510 kms (320 miles) from the Egyptian capital Cairo.

Tourists frequently use hot air balloons to tour the famous temples in the region, which include the Karnak temple.

Egypt - Luxor Balloon crash
A rescue official examines a piece of wreckage from a hot air balloon that crashed in Luxor Reuters
Egypt - Luxor Balloon crash
Police and rescue officials check the wreckage of a hot air balloon that crashed in Luxor Reuters
Egypt - Luxor Balloon crash
A rescue official walks near the wreckage of a hot air balloon that crashed in Luxor Reuters
Egypt - Luxor Balloon crash
A security officer and a rescue official examine the wreckage of a hot air balloon that crashed in Luxor Reuters
Egypt - Luxor Balloon crash
A rescue official examines a piece of wreckage from a hot air balloon that crashed in Luxor Reuters
Egypt - Luxor Balloon crash
Police and rescue officials lift the bodies of tourists who died after a hot air balloon crashed in Luxor Reuters
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