Relatives of balloon crash HK victims return

Relatives of the nine Hong Kong people who died in the Egypt hot-air balloon crash went back to Hong Kong on Tuesday afternoon.

Hong Kong Immigration Department's Senior Immigration Officer Hong Hoi, who returned together with the relatives, said the Egyptian authorities have been issuing death certificates for the victims.

The department will keep close contact with the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, insurance company and related parties, striving for transporting the victims' bodies back home in a short time, Hong said at the Hong Kong International Airport, adding that two immigration officers are still in Egypt to help arrange the return of the bodies.

Senior Clinical Psychologist of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority Lo Suk Yee said the victims' relatives had finished identifying the bodies and they are now more calm than when they left for Egypt earlier.

She told the reporters that the relatives hoped very much the bodies of their loved ones could return home soon so they could arrange funeral affairs.

A hot-air balloon carrying 21 people exploded in the air in Luxor, Egypt on Feb. 26, leaving 19 people dead, nine of them are from Hong Kong.