Vietnamese victims killed in Egypt bomb attack identified

The dead victims included Tran Hoa Khanh, born in 1961, from the central province of Thanh Hoa; Nguyen Thuy Quynh, born in 1962, from the capital city of Hanoi; and Nguyen Trong Tien, born in 1989, from the south central province of Binh Thuan.

According to the embassy, there were 15 Vietnamese people and three Egyptians on the bus at that time. Besides the three Vietnamese victims, one Egyptian guide was also killed.

Right after the incident occurred, Egypt’s authorised officials brought the 12 injured persons to El-Haram hospital in Giza province.

In an interview granted to Egypt-based correspondents of the Vietnam News Agency on December 29, Vietnamese Ambassador to Eygpt Tran Thanh Cong affirmed that eight out of the 12 injured persons have completely recovered and could return home.

The ambassador added that right after the incident, the embassy directly worked with relevant agencies of the host country, including the Egyptian Ministers of Tourism and Health to ensure the best emergency care for the victims.

The embassy staff also came to the site of the bomb attack on the day and visited the victims at the hospital.

The ambassador said he also worked with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to ask for help and optimal conditions for the Vietnamese people to return home soon while taking care of those being treated at the hospital and preparing all necessary conditions to repatriate the bodies of the three dead victims.

Egyptian relevant agencies said they are quickening the investigation to bring the culprit to the light as soon as possible, according to the diplomat.

Besides the aforesaid group of Vietnamese tourists, others are visiting Egypt, he said. He warned them to obey the roadmap of the trip and advised travel companies to consider this sensitive time.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has instructed the Vietnamese Embassy in Egypt to continue keeping close watch on the situation and work closely with local authorised agencies to ensure legitimate rights of the Vietnamese citizens.

At the request of the ministry, the Embassy of Egypt in Vietnam has created favourable conditions for the issuance of visas for 15 people, including the victims' relatives and representatives of several ministries, agencies and leaders of Saigontourist company. Two victims’ relatives departed for Egypt on December 29 and seven others headed to the country on December 30. The Egyptian ambassador to Vietnam said the embassy would continue to facilitate the issuance of visas upon request of the families of the victims.

In case of emergency, Vietnamese citizens can seek help from the embassy through the hotlines 20 106 039 6518 or the citizen protection hotline 84 981 8484 84 or the hotline of the Consular Department 096 5411 118.