Relatives identify Hong Kong balloon crash victims in Egypt
Six out of nine deceased identified by their relatives without need for DNA testing
Six of the nine Hong Kong victims of the Luxor balloon crash have been identified by their relatives, a Hong Kong police officer said in Cairo on Friday.
Tuesday’s balloon crash at near the Egyptian city of Luxor, the country’s ancient capital and a major tourist attraction, killed 19 tourists, nine of whom were from Hong Kong – and members of the Ho, Poon and Siu families.
The six deceased were identified by their relatives, and DNA testing was not used, said chief police inspector Cheung Wai-man, who is part of the 16-member Hong Kong government team sent to Cairo to help the families.
Cheung refused to say to which of the three Hong Kong families the identified remains belonged, saying that this was in accordance with the wishes of the victims’ families.
Still unidentified are the bodies of one man and two women. Cheung said authorities were continuing their work on identifying the three.
On Thursday, the relatives of the victims accompanied by Hong Kong officials visited all four Cairo hospitals where the bodies are located as part of their identification work.