Relatives of Luxor victims receive final compensation

Thirty-six Swiss tourists were killed in the 1997 Luxor massacre in Egypt Keystone Archive

Seventy-eight relatives of the victims of the 1997 Luxor massacre in Egypt have received the final payments from a SFr4.7 million ($2.88 million) special fund set up by tour operators and insurance companies. The claimants had initially asked for SFr10.8 million ($6.61 million).

The Federal Office for Police said the remaining SFr876,000 ($536,440) had been paid, thereby ending the indemnification process.

The two travel operators, Hotelplan and Imholz, as well as the insurance companies Zurich and Winterthur had contributed to the fund, but declined any responsibility in the incident. The money was supposed to cover financial losses not covered by insurances or by the law for the assistance of victims.

Fifty-eight tourists, including 36 Swiss, were fatally shot by Islamic extremists outside a temple in the Egyptian town of Luxor on November 17, 1997.

The Egyptian authorities had initially said they would make a financial gesture to families of the victims, but later reconsidered, and decided not to do so. They said they did not want to create a precedent by paying indemnities to the victims’ families.

swissinfo with agencies