Top leaders urge aid for HK survivors
By Teddy Ng (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-02 07:15

China's top leaders, including President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice-President Zeng Qinghong, have asked all departments concerned to try their best to tend to the Hong Kong tourists injured in a Tuesday bus accident in Egypt.

The leaders gave the instructions immediately after they learnt of the tragedy, a press release from the Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

They required Chinese departments such as the Foreign Ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Cairo to co-operate closely with the Egyptian side and make every effort to assist the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government in rescue work and handling the aftermath, it said.

The leaders also asked the SAR government to convey the central government's condolences to relatives of the victims and consolation to the injured tourists.

The tour bus overturned on a highway in southern Egypt early Tuesday, killing 14 Hong Kong tourists on board and injuring 30 others, some seriously.

The bus was on the outskirts of the Red Sea resort of Hurghada, heading towards the ancient historic city of Luxor to the southwest, when it rolled over on the highway, according to MENA, the Egyptian news agency.

The Egyptian driver turned himself in to the police and admitted he had been speeding. Chinese Embassy spokesman Gong Yufeng said a report by Egyptian police confirmed the accident was caused by excessive speed.

Heads of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council also conveyed the central government's deep concerns yesterday to Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang.

"Every compatriot from Hong Kong is a member of the great family of China," a spokesman of the office said earlier yesterday.

"We express our deep sorrow and sympathy over the misery they have suffered during Spring Festival, a time for family reunions of the Chinese."

The Central Government's Liaison Office in Hong Kong also expressed grief to the victims of the tragedy yesterday.

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said senior officials of the ministry had called the Egyptian ambassador to China, asking the Egyptian side to offer timely help and properly handle the aftermath.

The tourists left Hong Kong on Friday for a 10-day tour in Egypt.

The five most seriously injured of the 30 were hospitalized in Cairo, 18 were receiving treatment in Hurghada, and the seven who were the least injured have been discharged from hospital, Hong Kong Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee said yesterday at a press briefing.

About 30 family members and relatives of the victims had arrived in Cairo last night, and 15 others were en route from Hong Kong.

Lee said the SAR government was grateful for the assistance rendered by the central government and the staff of the embassy.

The SAR's immigration officers arrived in Cairo last night. Two will stay in the capital, and the other two will go to Hurghada, where most of the injured were hospitalized.

One of the tourists, surnamed Wong, yesterday recalled the accident to Commercial Radio in Hong Kong. "I think the speed was 100 kilometres per hour," he said. "The bus had flipped on its left side.

"About 10 tourists were thrown out of the coach and lost consciousness."

Wong also said the medical facilities were inadequate. "I waited for six hours to be treated," he said.

Another tourist, surnamed Leung, told Commercial Radio that a late response was partly to blame for some of the deaths.

After the coach overturned, "I saw at least two or three Hong Kong tour groups passing by us," Leung said. "I was screaming for help, but they did not stop. If people had got off their buses and helped, more people would have been saved."

(China Daily 02/02/2006 page1)