SIS refutes reports on stealing internal organs of deceased UK tourist

CAIRO – 22 October 2018: Egypt's State Information Service (SIS) denied Sunday foreign reports claiming that a UK tourist, who passed away while in vacation in Hurghada, returned home with internal organs missing.

David Humphries, 62, collapsed and died while in Makadi, a beachside resort near Hurghada, on September 18. Some UK papers claimed that he returned to the UK without his heart and kidneys.

Some British papers, including The Sun and Daily Mail, went to claim that the deceased tourist's heart and kidneys were stolen by organ traffickers.

"Such reports are baseless," SIS stressed.

SIS said Humphries was moved on September 18 to the Red Sea Hospital in Hurghada, where he died after cardiopulmonary resuscitation attempts failed to save his life.

A medical report stated that his death was likely to be caused by a sudden cardiac arrest, it added.

A probe was launched. Humphries's wife and daughter said they do not blame anyone for the death, the service said.

On September 20, the Public Prosecution tasked a forensic pathologist to examine Humphries's body to explain the cause of his death, it added.

The necessary samples were taken to make sure that his death was normal and there were no criminal suspicions, SIS said.

The law authorizes the Public Prosecution to order the autopsy without asking permission from the deceased's family, it added.

On September 25, the samples were sent to a chemical analysis laboratory of the Ministry of Health in Assiut, including a quantity of blood, parts of the liver, stomach, intestines and their contents, as well as half-kidneys and bladder, all belonging to the deceased, to search for toxic and narcotic alkaloids, sedatives, hypnotics or antidepressants, SIS said.

The samples were also sent to the pathology laboratory of the Ministry of Health in Cairo, including a formalin-preserved heart, which was dissected on September 20 at Hurghada General Hospital for conducting the necessary analysis to determine the cause of death, it added.

The Forensic Medicine Authority confirmed that the samples have been examined and measures are being taken to hand them over to Hurghada's public prosecution in preparation for delivering them to the deceased's family or a delegate from the British Embassy in Cairo as required by legal procedures in such cases, SIS said.

All measures were legal and taken by forensic experts, it added.

SIS urged the media outlets to seek accuracy while reporting to preserve credibility and avoid directing baseless accusations against others.