Body of murdered Swiss aid worker arrives in Geneva

The body of Swiss nurse, Rita Fox, has arrived in Switzerland four days after she was murdered in the Democratic Republic of Congo along with five other Red Cross workers.

Members of Fox’s family and several staff from the International Committee of the Red Cross were waiting at Geneva airport to collect the body, ICRC spokesman, Juan Martinez, said.

Fox, along with a Colombian collegue, Julio Delgado, and four local Red Cross workers were shot and then hacked to death on Thursday when they were travelling in the northeast of the country.

The ICRC said its workers were found dead beside their two vehicles around 30 kilometres from the town of Bunia near the Ugandan border.

Martinez said they had no idea who was behind the killings. “No one knows anything and we don’t have any clues,” he said.

Ugandan-backed rebels of the Congo Liberation Front control the Bunia region, which was the scene of violent inter-ethnic clashes earlier this year.

The ICRC has temporarily suspended its activities in the region, but will continue with its operation in the rest of Congo.

Several other aid agencies, including Medecins sans Frontieres, announced that they were also calling a temporary halt to operations in eastern Congo.

“To express our solidarity with ICRC, our outrage and our need to mourn, we will suspend all operations throughout eastern Congo for three days starting April 30,” a statement said.

A memorial service is due to be held in Geneva on Wednesday for the six slain workers.

swissinfo with agencies