Egyptian prosecutors have ordered the detention of four people over a hot air balloon crash that killed a South African tourist and wounded at least a dozen others, including a number of Australians.

The balloon’s pilot, the director of the airport from which it took off and two officials from the company that owns the balloon were detained for four days pending an investigation.

The incident occurred on Friday when strong winds forced the balloon, carrying 20 tourists, off course above the southern city of Luxor. Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry said other balloons carrying over 400 tourists had taken off and landed safely on Friday.

Vanessa Condran, from the Illawarra region in New South Wales, posted on Facebook: “I am alright, a few bumps and bruises ... And probably will never set foot in another hot air balloon ever again. I feel lucky to have walked out of this traumatic experience, a scary freak accident.”



Adele Jayde, of Melbourne, wrote on Instagram that she was “extremely thankful and blessed that myself and my travel companions on this tour all managed to come out of it alive with only minor injuries, as others in the basket with us weren’t so lucky.”

Lainie Drinkwater, the mother of one of the passengers, Zoe Drinkwater from Newcastle in NSW, told the Seven Network: “As they were coming in to land there was a big gust of wind that came up, which then consequently knocked out the pilot.

“The pilot was unconscious ... so no one was actually steering and operating this balloon so it was just plunging.”

News Corp Australia named the other four Australians involved as Montanna Leveque and River Kano of Melbourne, Emma Forster from Alice Springs and Morgan Adams of Victoria.

State media blamed the crash on poor weather conditions. High winds and sandstorms hit regions across the country, clouding the skies at Cairo’s main airport and forcing the closure of a number of Red Sea ports on Friday.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told the ABC it was providing consular assistance to the Australians involved in the incident.

Luxor has a history of hot air balloon crashes. The deadliest was in 2013 when at least 19 foreign tourists were killed when theirs caught fire.