EGYPT: EGYPTAIR PLANE CRASH: RELATIVES LEAVE FOR THE US

Описание: (2 Nov 1999) Arabic/Eng/Nat

73 relatives of those who dies in Sunday's Egypt Air crash have left Cairo aboard another Egypt Air flight to New York.

They are to continue to Rhode Island to begin a grim wait in a hotel, hoping searchers will be able to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones from the cold sea waters.

The group was accompanied by 40 employees of Egypt Air, including its chairman.

There were emotionally distressing scenes at Cairo Airport early on Tuesday as relatives of those who perished on Egypt Air flight 990 departed to the U-S to be close to the crash site off the Nantucket coast.

Among the numerous heartbreaking stories was that of Rania Rida and her sister Soha.

Both had only married their husbands- Egypt Air cabin crew members, Mohammed Galal and Hasan Toufic- the day before they left Egypt.

Rania said her husband had called her the night before leaving New York, saying that he had bad feelings about the flight he was about to take.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
We just married a day before they went there- just before he left.
Q: Were you and your sister married the same day?
A: Yes, yes.
SUPER CAPTION: Rania Rida, whose husband was on board Flight 900

The U-S Coast Guard has said there is no hope of finding survivors of the crash in the freezing waters off the Nantucket coast.

But some relatives refuse to give up hope, saying they still hoped to find their loved ones alive.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"And I hope we find them alive. Even now we have not given up hope. It seems in America that they have found something. We wait for the news."
SUPER CAPTION: Seham Elshagiah, relative

Many relatives who did not have passports were issued the relative documents on Monday.

The U-S Embassy scrapped normal procedures to speed up the issuing of visas.

SOUNDBITE: (Arabic)
" We found out from the television. I have lost my cousin and I am going to the United States."
SUPER CAPTION: Emad Abdul Rahaman, relative who lost cousin

The grief-stricken party will be taken to Rhode island on Tuesday, where the slow and painful process of waiting to identify the victims will begin.

Egypt Air's chairman is leading a delegation of 39 Egypt Air officials, who are accompanying the relatives to New York.

He said that the pilots of Egypt Air flight 900 were well trained and had ample experienced of crossing the Atlantic.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Our pilots are very well trained. The pilots who were flying this aircraft were very well trained. They had already crossed the Atlantic several times. Since we have begun flying to the United States- we have flown there for 14 years in many different types of aircraft without any incident or accident."
SUPER CAPTION: Mohammed Fahim Rayan, Egypt Air chairman

Upon arrival in New York , the family members will be sequestered and flown on board a chartered flight to Warwick, Rhode Island.

There they will begin a grim wait in a hotel, hoping searchers will be able to find the bodies of their loved ones from the cold sea waters.

The F-B-I and intelligence agencies are investigating the possibility of sabotage, but authorities say so far, there is no indication of foul play.

Coast Guard crews searching for clues on Monday detected a signal believed to be from one of the plane's 'black boxes'.

They hope Navy divers can now begin the task of retrieving the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from the seabed.


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