BEIJING, Feb. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- China’s Foreign Ministry has held a briefing on the balloon crash in Egypt. A hot air balloon carrying 20 tourists caught fire Tuesday, triggering an explosion in its gas canister.

It then plunged at least 300 meters from the sky and crashed into a sugar cane field just west of Luxor. Among the 19 victims, 9 are from Hong Kong SAR. The Chinese government says it’s highly concerned by the incident and has sent a taskforce to Egypt.

Officials from the Chinese Embassy to Egypt are on their way to the site. They will communicate closely with the Hong Kong SAR government and Egyptian local government to decide how to handle the issue.

(Source: CNTV.cn)