EGYPT-VIOLENCE/MEXICO-FOREIGN MINISTER Mexican survivors say they were also bombed in Egypt by helicopters, says Mexican Foreign Minister

Record ID: 139900

  • Title: EGYPT-VIOLENCE/MEXICO-FOREIGN MINISTER Mexican survivors say they were also bombed in Egypt by helicopters, says Mexican Foreign Minister
  • Date: 14th September 2015
  • Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (SEPTEMBER 14, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF DAR AL FOUAD HOSPITAL EXTERIOR OF MEXICAN EMBASSY MEXICAN FLAG OUTSIDE EMBASSY VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF MEXICAN EMBASSY MEXICAN FLAG EXTERIOR OF MEXICAN EMBASSY SIGN READING (ARABIC): "MEXICAN EMBASSY" EXTERIOR OF MEXICAN EMBASSY
  • Embargoed: 29th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6JYKO9UHMCNM7VNLY9483GRPK
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: CORRECTION: PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SOURCE ON SHOTS 1 - 7 WAS CHANGED FROM "REUTERS" TO "MEXICAN GOVERNMENT TV"
    Mexican tourists who survived a mistaken attack by Egyptian security forces say they were bombed by military helicopters and an aircraft while they stopped for a break in the western desert, Mexico's foreign minister said on Monday (September 14).
    Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu said her government had so far confirmed two Mexican nationals were killed, though security and judicial forces in Egypt have said eight Mexicans have been confirmed killed.
    She said the group had arrived in Cairo on Sept 11. Mexico's ambassador to Egypt has interviewed 6 survivors in hospital, she added.
    Massieu said that Ambassador Jorge Alvarez Fuentes had been in contact with the victims.
    "Ambassador Alvarez Fuentes personally interviewed six Mexicans in the hospital who told him separately that it had been an air attack with bombs dropped from a plane and helicopters. They had been evacuated by civilian and military vehicles and were then transferred by ambulance to the hospital," she said.
    Massieu also reported that she had met with Egypt's ambassador to Mexico.
    "Since yesterday, I have been in contact with the Egyptian ambassador in Mexico, Yasser Shaaban. And this morning, I received him here in the Foreign Ministry where I gave him a diplomatic note expressing the Mexican government's deep consternation for these deplorable events and demanded that an expedited and exhaustive investigation be launched and that an objective explanation be given without delay that clarifies what happened and establishes who was responsible," she said.
    Massieu added that the Mexican government was demanding full support from Egypt in the investigation and repatriation of the survivors.
    "Also, the Mexican Government calls on the Egyptian authorities to assign the highest priority and urgency to the clarification of this incident, giving the Mexican Embassy in Egypt the necessary facilities and personnel in Cairo for the performance of its functions and giving all the support that the victims require for their attention and future repatriation to Mexico," she said.
    The tourist group of 22 had parked their four four-by-four vehicles off road for a barbecue near the Bahariya oasis, a tourist site in the western desert, when army aircraft suddenly began shelling them from above, security sources said.
    As members of the tourist convoy tried to flee, additional security forces on the ground fired on them.
    Egypt is battling an insurgency that gained pace after the military ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in mid-2013 after mass protests against his rule.
    The insurgency, mounted by Islamic State's Egyptian affiliate, has killed hundreds of soldiers and police and has started to attack Western targets.
    A joint force from the Egyptian police and military had been chasing militants in the country's vast western desert when it came across the tourist convoy, which it mistook for the militants it was pursuing, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
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