Tunisia accident victim's body arrives today

The body of a 41-year-old Maltese man who died tragically while on holiday in Tunisia on New Year's Day is being flown to Malta today.

Malta's ambassador in Tunisia, Ives De Barro, confirmed when contacted yesterday that all the arrangements had been made, in collaboration with the Foreign Affairs Ministry, to fly Joe Abela's body to Malta.

Mr Abela, a bachelor of Tarxien, had just visited the Friguia Park with his relatives on Saturday and was waiting at a nearby train station to return to his accommodation when the accident happened, sources said.

Mr Abela had just spotted the train arriving and turned to inform his relatives when the locomotive's mirror hit him on the head and slammed him against a wall, the sources added. He died on the spot.

Mr Abela, who visited Tunisia regularly, had been on a three-week holiday and was expected back on Sunday, the day after the accident.