The deadliest hot air balloon accidents

Fatal hot air balloon accidents have occurred in many nations, including Australia and New Zealand, over the past 30 years.

A LOOK AT THE DEADLIEST HOT AIR BALLOON ACCIDENTS:

* Feb 26, 2013: A hot air balloon flying over Luxor, Egypt, caught fire and plunged 1000 feet (300 metres) to the ground, crashing into a sugar cane field and killing at least 19 foreign tourists.

* Aug 23, 2012: Six people died and 26 were injured when a hot air balloon carrying 32 people, mostly tourists including some children, caught fire and crashed near the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana.

* Jan 07, 2012: A hot air balloon struck power lines near Carterton, New Zealand, and exploded, crashing to the ground. All 11 people on board were killed.

* Oct 14, 2009: Four Dutch tourists were killed in Guangxi, China, after pilots lost control and their hot air balloon burst into flames and crashed.

* Aug 26, 2001: Six people including a child were killed when their hot air balloon touched a power line at Verrens-Arvey, in southwestern France.

* June 17, 1999: Four passengers were killed when their hot air balloon hit a power line near Ibbenburen, Germany.

* Jan 31, 1996: Five people died in the Bernese Alps, Switzerland, when their hot air balloon crashed into a mountainside at a height of 8000 feet (2400 metres).

* Aug 8, 1993: Six people were killed when their balloon hit a power line near Aspen, Colorado, tearing off the basket and sending it plunging 100 feet (30 metres) to the ground.

* Dec 11, 1990: Four people died near downtown Columbus, Ohio, after their hot air balloon hit a television tower and deflated.

* Oct 6, 1990: Four people were killed in a balloon crash at Gaenserndorf, near Vienna.

* Aug 13, 1989: Thirteen people were killed when their hot air balloon collided with another over the Australian outback near the town of Alice Springs. The two balloons were flying at an altitude of 2000 feet (600 metres) when one plunged to the ground after the collision.

* Oct 3, 1982: An explosion on board a hot air balloon carrying nine people at a festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico, killed four people and injured five.

* Aug 6, 1981: Five people were killed and one seriously injured when a hot air balloon caught fire after touching electrical wires and crashed in a suburb of Chicago.

* 1785: Two Frenchmen attempting to cross the English Channel in a hot air balloon were killed when their balloon caught fire and crashed, in possibly the first fatal aviation accident.

Sources: AP reporting and news reports