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A day in the oasis became a day in hell
Mexican tourists in Egypt endured five bombardments over three hours
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The six survivors of Sunday’s attack by Egyptian forces on a tourist convoy returned to Mexico today with Foreign Affairs Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu aboard the presidential plane.
Ruiz Massieu has demanded that Egypt carry out a thorough investigation, but observed at a press conference that the relationship between the two countries has been “long and valuable.”They have been admitted at the National Rehabilitation Center where their condition was “delicate but stable,” reported Health Secretary Mercedes Juan. She said the victims had suffered burns, respiratory problems or fractures and that the wounds were from shrapnel rather than bullets.
The chancellor said she achieved three goals with her trip to Egypt: “Verify our citizens’ health condition, arrange for their immediate repatriation and request once more that the investigations be expeditious and transparent.”
What took place has left Mexico “angry and hurt.”
“This unjustified act of aggression is unprecedented. We shall wait for the outcome of the [Egyptian] investigations,” she said.
Twelve people were killed, eight of them Mexicans, when they were mistaken for terrorists in the Western Desert. They were part of a tourist convoy that was traveling from Cairo to the Bahariya Oasis and had stopped for lunch when a plane and helicopters opened fire.
Mexican authorities have advised their Egyptian counterparts they expect the relatives of the dead and the survivors to be compensated according to international law.One survivor, a Guadalajara woman who lost her husband in the attack, said a day in the oasis turned into a day in hell. Susana Calderón said there were about five bombardments over the course of three hours.
The Foreign Affairs Secretariat yesterday updated its travel advisory for Egypt, advising Mexicans to “reconsider or postpone their plans to travel to Egypt.”
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, who met Wednesday with Ruiz Massieu, said his government would cooperate transparently with Mexico on the investigation and providing briefings as it progressed.
However, the transparency won’t extend to Egyptian news media. The government has issued a media gag on the case.
Source: El Universal (sp), Daily News Egypt (en)
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