Mexicans who lost relatives or were wounded in an aerial bombing in Egypt last year have reached a compensation agreement with the Egyptian Travel Agents Association (ETAA), Mexico’s government said on Tuesday.
In September 2015, an Egyptian army aircraft fired on a group of visitors parked for a barbecue near a tourist site, thinking they were militants. Eight Mexican citizens and four Egyptians were killed. Six Mexicans were wounded.
Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that after the intervention of both governments and their lawyers, an accord was reached with the ETAA to pay “financial compensation” to the victims once current religious festivals in Egypt are over.
The federation is a union of local tourism chambers of commerce. It represents the tourism industry and is not officially part of the Egyptian government.
Muslims this week celebrate the Eid al-Adha holiday, one of the two most important festivals of the Islamic calendar.
The ministry, which in May complained that it was not satisfied with Egypt’s response to the attack, did not divulge details of the agreement.
Under the accord, authorities in Egypt will also erect a memorial to the Mexican and Egyptian victims, the ministry said.
(Reporting by Dave Graham, editing by G Crosse)
