Mexico demands probe after Egyptian troops accidentally kill tourists

Mexico has demanded a thorough investigation after Egyptian security forces mistakenly opened fire on a group of Mexican tourists in the Western Desert, killing 12.

At least 10 people were also injured in the incident, Egyptian officials said.

The Mexican Foreign Ministry said at least two of the dead were Mexican nationals. It said that the victims were still being identified, and Foreign Ministry personnel were working with the families of the victims.

Egyptian police and armed forces were pursuing terrorist elements in the area and fired on four cars that turned out to be carrying tourists, according to Egypt’s Interior Ministry. The ministry said the victims were Mexican and Egyptian.

Mexican Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu was in contact with Egypt’s ambassador to Mexico, a statement said. She also demanded the support of Egyptian authorities for Mexican nationals being transported to Cairo.

The tour company involved “did not have permits and did not inform authorities,” said Rasha Azazi, a spokesperson for the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, adding that any trips to the Farafra area are required to be cleared by officials.

“They were not supposed to be there,” she said, but could not provide further information on the circumstances of the shooting.

The Egyptian authorities did not indicate whether the tourists were killed by automatic fire or aerial bombardment.

Jorge Alvarez Fuentes, Mexico’s ambassador to Egypt, and consular representatives were at the Dar el-Fouad Hospital in suburban Cairo, and Alvarez had interviewed five survivors, the Foreign Ministry statement said. It did not provide details of what the survivors said.

Egypt has been battling an Islamic insurgency in northern Sinai for years, but attacks mainly targeting the army and police escalated and spread to the mainland after the July 2013 military ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.

It did not indicate how many Mexicans were hit and said they had been in an area “off limits to foreign tourists.”

México condena estos hechos en contra de nuestros ciudadanos y ha exigido al gobierno de Egipto una exhaustiva investigación de lo ocurrido.

— Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN) September 14, 2015

“Mexico condemns these incidents against our citizens and has demanded an exhaustive investigation about what happened from the government of Egypt,” President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Twitter.

Pena Nieto said he ordered his Foreign Ministry to deploy more diplomats to Egypt to assist the victims and their families.

“For the moment, we regrettably confirm the death of two Mexican nationals in this incident,” Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that it was working on identifying them.

The ministry gave few details about what happened, describing it only as a “grave incident” in which an “undetermined” number of Mexican tourists were attacked “in circumstances that are still not clear.”

Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu was scheduled to give a press conference about the incident on Monday at 1245 GMT.

Ruiz Massieu dispatched to Egypt the director of her ministry’s office for the protection of Mexicans abroad, as well as personnel from other embassies in the region.

The embassy and Foreign Ministry “remain on alert to know the situation of other Mexicans affected,” the statement said, adding that the government was in contact with families of the tourists.

The vast desert region, popular with tourists for its oases and rock formations, is also a militant hideout.

Last month, the Egyptian branch of the Islamic State group beheaded a young Croatian there who was working for a French company and have also launched numerous attacks against security forces.

The Islamic State group in Egypt said in a statement that it had “resisted a military operation in the Western Desert.”