Egypt suffers second blow

There were scenes of despair at Cairo Airport

Egyptians are coming to terms with another national tragedy, only 10 months after 80 of their fellow nationals died when a EgyptAir Boeing 767 plunged into the Atlantic off the US coast.

The scenes at Cairo Airport on Wednesday, from which flight GF072 originated, were similar to last October's, as families grappled to come to terms with what had happened.

Relatives are flying to Bahrain to identify their loved ones

Egypt has lost more of its nationals than any country in the latest disaster, with 63 confirmed dead.

Walid Mourad, head of the Egyptian Pilots' Association and a voice often heard in relation to the EgyptAir investigation, said the latest disaster, was a tragedy for the Arab people as a whole.

"We are all family and brothers. We all have something in this," Mourad said. "But for the Egyptians, this is a double blow. Two disasters in a row for the Egyptians."

A list of passengers' names issued by the airline showed more than 30 of the passengers were under the age of 18.

Families

It also showed that, of the Egyptians on board, there appeared to be at least seven families.

I lost my pregnant wife and young son. They were on holiday in Egypt

Bahraini man

Many Egyptian expatriate families return to their homes in the Gulf at about this time of the year to prepare for the new school year after their summer holidays.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians work in the tiny, oil-rich Emirates and many of those on board were heading for jobs in Bahrain or elsewhere in the Gulf.

The passenger list showed that a number bore the title "doctor", which is reserved for middle-class professions, such teachers, civil servants, journalists as well as those of the medical profession.

Many Egyptians work in the Gulf through government exchange contracts, offering the emirates skills they lack. Others would have been trying to improve their living standards.

Rida Hassan was one of those escaping Egypt's moribund economy. Hassan's uncle said he rushed to the Cairo airport after hearing a list of the passengers read on television.

Ambulances on stand-by

In the hours after the crash, relatives expressed anger and frustration at Gulf Air for the slow release of information.

Ambulances stood by to deal with relatives devastated by the news, while medics moved among the crowd handing out tranquilisers.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has expressed his "deep sadness and sincere condolences to the families of the victims."

Only hours before the latest disaster, he had spoken about the EgyptAir crash, dismissing reports that the co-pilot had committed suicide.

The investigation into Wednesday's tragedy is likely to be followed just as closely in Egypt.