One of the two unharmed tourists in Afghanistan has already left the country
The injured woman is doing "favorably" in the hospital in Kabul, although her prognosis is reserved
One of the two tourists who were unharmed during the attack in Afghanistan has already left the country, while the second has decided to stay for "personal matters" and will leave "as soon as they decide," according to sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Spanish diplomats sent by the executive, who are the ambassador to Afghanistan (with the embassy now located in Doha), and a diplomat sent from the Pakistani embassy, have already arrived in Kabul.
Both are working to speed up the administrative procedures to repatriate the bodies of the three Catalans killed in the attack, and are in contact with the hospital in the Afghan capital where the woman injured is still being kept. Sources say her condition is improving.
The fatal victims of the attack in Afghanistan are two Catalan women and a man, in addition to an Afghan citizen. The women have been named as Susana Vilar Bühler and her daughter Elena Schröder Vilar, who are both pharmacists. They were the owners of the pharmacies in the Sants neighborhood of Barcelona and Les Arenes in Terrassa. The third dead Catalan citizen is only identified as R.B.R., born in Girona.
Friday's attack took place precisely in an area of Bamyan historically punished by the Taliban regime.
The group of six citizens were part of a larger group of about fifteen tourists.
According to Afghan media, at least four people have been arrested in connection with the attack.
National Court opens investigation
The Prosecutor's Office of the National Court has opened investigatory proceedings into the attack which took place in Bamyan.
The Catalan government has expressed its "dismay" at the fatalities and has publicly conveyed its condolences to the families who are going through a "painful and difficult" moment.
Catalonia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Meritxell Serret, told the Catalan News Agency that they are not aware, for now, of any other Catalans in the tour group.
Serret added that the tourists were in the country on a trip organized by an agency. It is unknown how many people made up the group.
The Spanish government will repatriate the bodies "as soon as possible," and Spain's Minister for Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, explained on Saturday that it could be done over this weekend.
A conversation with the unharmed
Albares held a telephone conversation with two of the people injured in the attack in Afghanistan on Saturday morning. Both confirmed to him that they are fine and already in the capital city of Kabul, waiting to leave the country.
"The modus operandi suggests an attack, but I don't want to speculate. We will have information soon and everything will be clarified," the minister told RAC1 and Catalunya Ràdio.
According to a witness, the group was in a market in Bamyan when a person started shooting from an alley.