News: Tributes pour in for Emirati pilots killed in Egypt

Leaders, family and friends attend funeral services at Fujairah and Kalba on Friday

 An outpouring of grief and respect from across the country was witnessed on Friday in honour of the two Emirati air force pilots killed in a plane crash in Egypt on Wednesday.
Family, friends and officials gathered at two separate funeral services for First Lieutenant Pilot Saif Khalaf Saif Al Zaabi of Kalba and First Lieutenant Pilot Abdullah Ali Al Hammoudi of Fujairah.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed on Thursday that both pilots died in an aircraft crash during a joint UAE-Egypt military exercise. Two Egyptian military servicemen also died in the incident.
The incident is still under investigation.
The bodies of the two Emiratis were repatriated from Egypt on Thursday.
At the funerals on Friday, tears flowed as families recalled the unwavering commitment of First Lieutenant Pilot Saif Khalaf Saif Al Zaabi of Kalba and First Lieutenant Pilot Abdullah Ali Al Hammoudi of Fujairah.
According to a statement by WAM, Al Zaabi's body was received according to military protocol by Shaikh Saeed Bin Saqr Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Deputy Head of the Sharjah Ruler's office head in Khor Fakkan, Shaikh Haitham Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Deputy Head of the Sharjah Ruler's office head in Kalba, senior military officers, the martyr's family and people from all over the UAE.
Funeral prayers were performed at Al Buhairah Mosque in Kalba and Al Zaabi was buried at the Khour Kalba cemetery.
In Kalba, the family of Al Zaabi assembled on Friday as their son was buried.
Ahmed Sauf Al Zaabe, the brother of the deceased said the loss of such a close family member is hard given that the deceased was young, just starting out his life and was a new father of a baby girl that he had yet to see.

Ahmed said, "we received the first news about my brother death at about 7pm on Wednesday, and my mother collapsed."
The deceased, he confided, was a gentle soul who took the security of his country very seriously.
"My brother was very kind, friendly and nice with all of his friends and familly members," he said. "He is young, only 24 years old, and he is a father of a new born girl. He didn't see his young daughter, last Wednesday was his first anniversary. His daughter was at the hospital with her mother," Ahmed said.
At Al Tawain in Fujairah, Al Hammoudi's body was received by Major General Saif Musabah Abdullah Al Musafiri, Head of Operations at the General Command of the Armed Forces.
Funeral prayers were performed next to a funeral tent erected next to the family home.
Family members remembered a son that made the village proud as Al Hammoudi was buried at Al Tawain Mosque Cemetery.
His father Ali said, "We believe in God and we accept his will because we all believe in fate and destiny ... he is a martyr."
Close family member Mohammad Abdullah Al Hammoudi said: "Abdullah is the son of Sarm village in Al Tawain, and we are all proud of him. He left the UAE last week with his friend Saif Al Zaabi who was killed with him in the same accident."