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Egypt

Hot-Air Balloon Crash Kills 18 Foreign Tourists In Egypt

BBC NEWS (UK), AL-MASRY AL-YOUM (Egypt), AP

Worldcrunch

CAIRO – A hot air balloon caught fire and exploded as it was flying over the ancient Egyptian city of Luxor on Tuesday, killing at least 18 tourists.

The casualties included French, British, Japanese nationals and nine tourists from Hong Kong, a security official told AP.

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The crash happened on one of the many dawn hot air balloon flights that give tourists an aerial view of Luxor's famous sites - File photo: Dale Gillard

According to Egypt’s daily Al-Masry Al-Youm, the balloon which was carrying 21 tourists was flying over Luxor when it caught fire, which triggered an explosion in its gas canister. The balloon then plunged at least 1,000 feet and crashed in a cane field near ancient Egyptian sites in the famed Valley of the Kings.

Initial reports of 19 dead were revised to 18; two tourists and the Egyptian pilot of the hot air balloon survived the crash and were taken to a local hospital.

One witness told BBC News that people were jumping out of the balloon, "from about the height of a seven-story building".

The crash is yet another blow to an already crippled tourism industry in Egypt, with AP reporting that Luxor's hotels are currently about 25% full in what is supposed to be the peak of the winter season.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

That Man In Mariupol: Is Putin Using A Body Double To Avoid Public Appearances?

Putin really is meeting with Xi in Moscow — we know that. But there are credible experts saying that the person who showed up in Mariupol the day before was someone else — the latest report that the Russian president uses a doppelganger for meetings and appearances.

screen grab of Putin in a dark down jacket

During the visit to Mariupol, the Presidential office only released screen grabs of a video

Russian President Press Office/TASS via ZUMA
Anna Akage

Have no doubt, the Vladimir Putin we’re seeing alongside Xi Jinping this week is the real Vladimir Putin. But it’s a question that is being asked after a range of credible experts have accused the Russian president of sending a body double for a high-profile visit this past weekend in the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

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Reports and conspiracy theories have circulated in the past about the Russian leader using a stand-in because of health or security issues. But the reaction to the Kremlin leader's trip to Mariupol is the first time that multiple credible sources — including those who’ve spent time with him in the past — have cast doubt on the identity of the man who showed up in the southeastern Ukrainian city that Russia took over last spring after a months-long siege.

Russian opposition politician Gennady Gudkov is among those who confidently claim that a Putin look-alike, or rather one of his look-alikes, was in the Ukrainian city.

"Now that there is a war going on, I don't rule out the possibility that someone strongly resembling or disguised as Putin is playing his role," Gudkov said.

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