An Arlesey man has been hailed as a hero in aan Egyptian bus crash that killed nine people.

Phillip Palmer helped several of the injured from the burning coach before it exploded in a huge fireball.

Phillip, 43, who survived the incident with his wife Sandra, 49, told journalists: "As I carried one woman to safety the heat was grilling me. The coach was burning its whole length and all of a sudden it went 'boom'."

"You can't imagine it, really. It was like a war zone or horror movie. The coach just exploded, like a big fireball, a big mushroom, just like a movie. It's one of those things you read about that never happen to you."

The couple were near the front when the coach left a desert road in the dark at 5am en route from Sharm e-Sheikh to the pyramids.

Phillip suffered cuts and bruises while Sandra broke a leg and four ribs.

A Canadian couple they had swapped seats with were even more seriously injured, with the girl losing an arm.

Casualties had to wait two hours for ambulances.

Sandra said: "Phillip was great. He helped the others and won't admit it, but he was a hero."

The driver has told investigators the accident happened because he 'suddenly' could not control the steering wheel.

The dead included an Egyptian police guard and Russian, Romanian, Ukrainian and Italian tourists.

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Newspaper report: The Daily Telegraph


Newspaper report: The Sun