‘Travel agency to blame’ for Egyptian airstrikes that killed Mexican tourists

 An official Egyptian investigation into an airstrike on a group of Mexican tourists that killed 12 people has suggested a travel agency they hired was to blame, according to Mexico’s foreign minister.

Eight Mexican tourists and four Egyptians died on 13 September 2015 when they came under fire during a lunch stop in Egypt’s vast Western Desert while on their way to the Bahariya oasis.

Egyptian security forces bombed their vehicles from the air. Survivors say they were hit by strikes from a plane and a helicopter.

Cairo has previously said that its military mistakenly killed the tourists as they were in a restricted area during a government operation against violent extremist fighters.

The Egyptian government has said that an investigation into the attack is nearing completion, Mexico’s foreign minister, Claudia Ruiz Massieu, said on Wednesday.

The Egyptian tourism ministry “found that the administrative authorities and the travel agency should have had more clarity on the permit and in that sense would eventually be responsible”, she added.

Cairo has promised a full and “transparent” inquiry, although media in Egypt have been banned from publishing any details on the incident or the investigation.

source: The Guardian