María Asunción Vitorica has become the eighth Spanish tourist to die following a suicide car bomb attack on a tourist convoy in Yemen on the 2nd July.

Dr Nabi Al Yuri, who is the head of the intensive care unit at the Al Zaura Hospital in Sana, announced this morning that María passed away at 3am local time (1am CET).

"In the final moments, her vital organs, especially her heart, weren't functioning well," explained Dr Nabi.

María was pronounced "brain dead" by Yemeni doctors last Wednesday, prompting her family to challenge the test results.

Further tests performed at the behest of the Spanish Embassy last Thursday, the results of which were subsequently confirmed by neurologists in Madrid, however, revealed "very little" brain activity.

María underwent two operations, but had been unconscious since the 7th July.

Two Yemeni citizens also died in the attack twelve days ago outside the Queen of Sheba's Temple, and six others were injured. 

Yemeni doctors declare bomb victim 'brain dead'
By: thinkSPAIN
Thursday, July 12, 2007

María Asunción Vitorica, who was very critically injured in the suicide car bomb attack against a tourist convoy outside the Queen of Sheba's Palace last Monday, has been declared "brain dead" by Yemeni doctors at the Al Zaura Hospital in Saná.

The announcement comes after a battery of tests showed that "there is no activity in her brain," according to Dr Mohammed al Garady, the neurologist who conducted the examination.

According to a source at the hospital, copies of the test results have been given to María's family, who are in Yemen, as well as to staff at the Spanish Embassy, who have yet to respond.

Condition of tourist injured in Yemen bomb attack 'very critical'
By: thinkSPAIN
Monday, July 9, 2007

There has been a deterioration in the condition of the Spanish tourist injured in last Monday's suicide car bomb attack, María Asunción Vitorica, who was too poorly to travel back to Spain with the rest of the dead and injured.

According to the director of the Foreign Relations department of the Basque regional government, Mikel Burzako, María has taken a turn for the worse following surgery last week. No further operations are planned, but it is considered "unviable" at this time for her to be moved.

Her condition is being described as "very critical" by doctors at the Al Zaura Hospital. Dr Emad Chafrai, who heads up the intensive care unit, said that: "She's not responding at all and the outlook is frankly very bad. Several tests will be undertaken over the next few hours to confirm whether or not she is clinically dead."

Yemeni police detain eleven suspected bomb plotters
By: thinkSPAIN
Thursday, July 5, 2007

Eleven people suspected of involvement in a suicide bomb attack against a tourist convoy in Yemen last Monday that cost the lives of two locals and seven Spanish tourists, have been arrested by Yemeni police. Ten further suspects have been identified, but remain at large, according to Yemeni Interior minister, Rachad Al Alimi.

The human remains of the seven dead tourists arrived back in Spain at 7.15am yesterday morning on board the same plane as five of the six Spanish tourists injured. Three were admitted to the Gómez Ulla Military Hospital in Madrid, where the condition of two of them is described as grave. The two least seriously injured have been allowed home.

The seventh, María Asunción Victorica, who was too seriously injured to travel, remains in a heavily sedated condition at the Al Zaura Hospital in Yemen.

Seven Spanish tourists killed in Yemen bomb attack
By: thinkSPAIN
Tuesday, July 3, 2007

The government of Yemen is blaming Al Qaeda for the suicide car-bomb attack yesterday that claimed the lives of seven Spanish tourists and two Yemeni civilians outside the Queen of Sheba temple in Marib (second photo), which is in the east of the country some 170km from the capital, Sanaa. Six other Spanish tourists were injured, one of whom is in a very serious condition, as well as two other locals.

The attack occurred at around 4pm (CET) when a vehicle packed with explosives ploughed into a tourist convoy as it was leaving the site, and exploded.

The dead tourists have been identified as four Catalans, two Basques and a woman from Burgos: Magie Álvarez Calleja (Guipúzcoa), Miguel Essery Arruti (Guipúzcoa), María Isabel Arranz Bocos (Barcelona), Gabriel Tortosa Ortega (Barcelona), Antonio Pomés Tallo (Barcelona), María Teresa Pérez Ubago (Burgos) and Marta Borrell Puig (Girona).

Antonio Pomés and María Teresa Pérez were married and Marta Borrel was married to Esteve Masó Vilanova (Girona), who was among the injured. The rest of the injured are: Eva María de Mena (Fuentenebro, Vizcaya), María Estíbaliz Díez del Río (Vizcaya), María Begoña Larrabeiti Meabe (Vizcaya), Julia Vilaró Rodríguez (Barcelona) and María Asunción Vitoria Arbaiza (Álava), who has undergone surgery.

Spanish Foreign Affairs minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, confirmed yesterday that a Spanish Air Force plane has been sent to Yemen to bring the bodies home, and that Industry, Tourism and Commerce minister, Joan Clos, was on board.

The dead and injured were part of a group of thirteen tourists on a trip organised by the Viajes Banoa company that has offices in Bilbao and Barcelona. Their 25-day holiday started last Saturday.

The Foreign Affairs ministry is advising tourists to avoid the area, but if they do decide to go, then they should ensure that they travel with local guides and a military escort.

During recent years the government of Yemen has been waging war against Islamist extremists with the help of US special forces. Al Qaeda have not claimed responsibility for yesterday's attack, but the fact that suicide bombers were involved makes it the most likely possibility. The terror group is demanding the release of militants being held in Yemeni jails.