Eighty-four years after Tutankhamen's mummy was excavated in Luxor, another cache of mummies was found only five meters away from the tomb of the young king.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Zahi Hawwas said the find took place during a routine digging by a US Memphis University expedition in the Valley of Kings.

The vertical grave was lying three meters under land surface, said the official, adding that the grave is 1.53m in width and 1.95m in length.

Five wood sarcophagi were found surrounded by 20 airtight jars, said the Luxor Archaeology Supervisor Mansour Buraik. The sarcophagi contain mummies that date back to the 18th Dynasty, he added.