Egyptian military bombed the tourists several times

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A Mexican tourist who survived an air strike in Egypt says that their convoy was bombed five times repeatedly over a period of three hours, even after security forces on the ground had cleared their passage.

Susan Calderon’s husband was among the eight Mexicans killed. Four Egyptian guides were also killed.

– You could see the viciousness with which they came and went, she told Mexican newspaper El Universal from her hospital bed in Cairo. We were bombed about five times, always from the air. It all lasted some three hours.

Ms Calderon was wounded in the arm and her right leg is paralysed, though doctors believe she will regain movement.

Her husband, Luis Barajas, was found alive when rescue workers arrived, but later died.

-I saw my husband when they put me on a stretcher to take me to the hospital, Ms Calderon said.

-I heard him tell me he loved me, and I told him I do too. And then I heard nothing from him again.

The couple had been married for 20 years and ran a hospital equipment business in the western city of Guadalajara.

Mexico demands compensation for victims

Mexico’s president Enrique Pena Nieto has demanded Egypt investigate the deadly attack and assign blame. Mr Pena Nieto said the six Mexicans who were wounded would be flown home on Thursday aboard his presidential plane.

The Mexican government has also demanded that Egypt compensate the victims of the September 13 attack.

The Egyptian prosecutor general’s office has announced a gag order on all news related to the investigation until its conclusion.

Egypt said the tourists had entered a restricted area in the Western Desert and were “mistakenly” killed as security forces chased Islamist militants. But the head of Egypt’s tour guides union said the group had received all the required permits and were accompanied by police escort. They had stopped for a picnic when they were attacked.