LUXOR, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- An initial investigation into the crash and blast of a balloon that killed 19 tourists in Egypt's southern Luxor revealed that there was no criminal suspicion in the accident but the balloon's condition was too deteriorated to fly, Luxor Prosecution told Xinhua Wednesday.
"The initial probe pointed to no criminal suspicion, but the condition of the balloon was too bad. The Civil Aviation Ministry should be responsible for the accident because the balloon companies are related to the ministry," said Mamdouh Khaled, Luxor security chief to Xinhua.
Meanwhile, the head of the chamber of the tourism companies in Luxor said that Sky Cruise, which organized the death trip, was reported to have committed violations before, noting that the balloon companies had ended its contracts with the meteorological authority in Luxor after the Jan.-25 upheaval due to safety instructions violation.
Nineteen tourists were killed and two others injured in a balloon explosion Tuesday morning in Egypt's Luxor governorate. The departed tourists included nine from China's Hong Kong as well as four Japanese, two British, two French, one Egyptian and one Hungarian.
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