Vietnam urges Egypt to grant urgent visas for families of bomb blast victims

By An Hong, Nguyen Quy   December 28, 2018 | 10:01 pm PT
Vietnam urges Egypt to grant urgent visas for families of bomb blast victims
Police officers inspect a scene of a bus blast in Giza, Egypt, December 28, 2018. Photo by Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Vietnam's foreign ministry is working with Egyptian authorities to help families of tourists killed and hurt in a roadside blast.

The foreign ministry has requested the Egyptian Embassy in Hanoi to grant urgent visas to family members of the Vietnamese victims of Friday's bomb blast and asked that it works with parties involved to protect the victims’ legal rights.

A bus carrying 15 Vietnamese tourists who were traveling from Cairo to the Giza pyramids on a seven-day tour organized by Ho Chi Minh City-based travel agency Saigontourist was hit by a roadside bomb placed near a wall along the Mariyutiya Street in Al-Haram District on Friday night.

The accident killed three Vietnamese tourists on the spot and injured 12 others. An Egyptian tour guide has also been confirmed dead in the blast.

Among the injured, 10 suffered heavy injuries and are being treated at a local hospital while two others sustained minor injuries and were taken to the Vietnamese Embassy in Egypt for care.

The bombing is the first deadly attack against foreign tourists in Egypt in over a year and comes as the tourism sector, a vital source of foreign currency revenue, recovers from a sharp drop in visitor numbers since the country’s 2011 uprising, Reuters reported.

Egyptian authorities are probing the bomb attack. There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the incident.

The pyramids of Giza are the only surviving structure of the seven wonders of the ancient world and a major tourist draw attracting visitors from across the globe.

 
 
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