Emiratis bodies flown back

The bodies of a 20-year-old Emirati woman and her 15-month-old child Ali, who died of suspected food poisoning during a holiday to Sri Lanka, arrived home in Ras Al Khaimah Friday and were buried in their home village near the city, Sultan Abdullah Al Mazroui, cousin of the Emirati woman, told Gulf News.

"The head of the family, Mohammad Ali Obaid Al Mazroui, 24, arrived with the bodies of his wife and child on a special plane sent from the UAE," Al Mazroui said.The family's home is located in Wadi Kup in Ras Al Khaimah."The residents of Wadi Kub witnessed a sad Friday after the arrival of the bodies of the two victims. Hundreds of people including Al Mazroui's family members, friends, neighbours and officials attended the funeral," Al Mazroui said.

The Emirati family of three had come on holiday to Sri Lanka on Monday last week, but tragedy struck hours after their arrival in Colombo. "Two members of the family, the mother and the son, died in less than 24 hours of landing there, while the head of the family was still under medication," he said.

A committee of 11 members from the ministries of Interior, Health and Foreign Affairs reached Colombo on Wednesday morning to determine the reason behind the ambiguity surrounding the deaths, Hamad Saeed Al Shamsi, Director of the Operations Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Wednesday. The authorities will investigate all possible causes that could have been responsible for the food poisoning.

Along with checking whether the family consumed any food during their trip from the Sri Lankan airport to the hotel. The committee will also check the medicine prescribed by the Sri Lankan hospital. The incident took place on Tuesday after the family hired a taxi driver to take a tour of the city. It was the driver who informed the family's relatives in the UAE about the incident.