Foreign dignitaries, Egyptian officials and religious figures on Friday (March 1) attended a prayer services and commemoration for the victims of a hot balloon crash that killed 19 people last week.

Diplomats from China, Japan, Great Britain and Hungary laid flowers at the site where the balloon crashed in farmland a few kilometres from the Valley of the Kings and other temples popular with tourists.

Eyewitness accounts and amateur video indicate that the balloon caught fire after one of its gas canisters came loose as the pilot was attempting to land.

Relatives of the victims have travelled to Egypt to visit the site of the crash and to bring home the bodies of their loved ones.