Egypt to pay US$140,000 to families of Mexican victims

Egyptian authorities have agreed to pay US$140,000 (123,000 euros) in compensation to each family of the eight Mexican tourists who died in an attack by Egypt security forces during a safari in the western desert of the country in September 2015.

Omaima al Husseini, spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, told EFE that compensation has been set and that the government is working on the details of the agreement, such as the method of payment.

According to the Egyptian newspaper "Al Watan", citing a source in the Ministry of Tourism, a Mexican delegation representing three of the victims and a diplomat from the Embassy of Mexico in Cairo signed an agreement with Khaled al Manaui, president of the Chamber of Tourism Companies, last Friday.

The newspaper said that part of the money will come from a fund of the Ministry of Tourism and added that the three families represented in the meeting were the only ones that accepted the sum and the explanation that the incident was due to a mistake.