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At Least
88 Killed in Egyptian Resort Bombings
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Three
bomb blasts ripped through the glitzy Naama Bay strip, sending panicked
holidaymakers rushing out of bars and clubs. (Reuters)
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Click
for more photos
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CAIRO,
July 23, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – At least 88
people were killed, including seven foreigners, and 200 others were
wounded in a string of bomb attacks that rocked the Egyptian Red Sea
resort of Sharm El-Sheikh early on Saturday, July 23, medics and
officials said.
Medics
said 88 people were confirmed killed, most of them Egyptians, and
about 110 wounded, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Police
said at least eight foreigners were among the dead, including two
Britons, two Italians, one Ukrainian, one Russian, one Dutch citizen
and one Israeli of Arab descent.
President
Hosni Mubarak cut short a holiday on the Mediterranean coast and flew
to Sharm El-Sheikh, lies at the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula,
to check consequences of the blasts.
Three
bomb blasts ripped through a luxury hotel, a nearby car park and a
busy market minutes apart shortly after 1:00 am (2200 GMT Friday),
sending panicked holidaymakers rushing out of bars and clubs on the
glitzy Naama Bay strip.
Witnesses
said scenes of panic broke out after the blasts in the resort known to
Egyptians as "the city of peace," where Mubarak frequently
hosts world leaders and Middle East summits.
"There
are lots of bodies covered with blood-stained white sheets around the
hotel. Lots of people rushed to the scene to see what was happening
but up to 600 policemen are cordoning off the area," resident
Hossam Osman, who owns a photo laboratory, told AFP.
The
attacks, claimed by an Al-Qaeda-linked group, are the deadliest in
Egypt in eight years and deal a fresh blow to the crucial tourism
industry.
Hard
Hit
In
the most devastating of the strikes, a suicide bomber rammed his car
into the Ghazala Garden hotel.
"A
suicide car bomber forced the barrier at the entrance of the hotel. A
member of the security staff tried to stop him but he sped towards the
reception and there was a huge explosion," a Ghazala hotel
employee told AFP.
"The
explosion was so strong that it shook the building I was in at the
other end of the road, almost a kilometer (half a mile) away from the
Ghazala," said taxi driver Naguy Teema.
An
AFP reporter said the force of the blast sent debris flying more than
100 meters (yards) from the hotel building, which threatened to
collapse.
"There
were at least 30 dead in this bombing, most of them Egyptian employees
of the hotel because the tourist villas are on the other side of the
hotel," a police officer said.
Another
bomb went off on a car park a few hundred meters (yards) away from the
Ghazala hotel, smashing shop fronts on the busy Qabous street.
An
AFP correspondent saw an eviscerated body, apparently belonging to a
foreigner, being evacuated by medics. At least five other bodies were
still lying in the car park.
The
bomb went off near the resort's Hard Rock Cafe and other nightlife
spots popular with the tens of thousands of foreign tourists on
holidays in Sharm.
A
third bomb ripped through a busy market area, killing an undetermined
number of people, some of them foreigners.
"The
blast took place at the edge of the souk [market]. It was huge. There
were still lots of people at terraces and shops were still open,"
said Ashraf, who owns the nearby restaurant popular with Russian
tourists.
"I
can't tell how many people were killed but it was a carnage. The panic
was immediate and I saw a man die of a heart attack following the
blasts," he said.
Officials
said a car had exploded there but an eyewitness said a man had walked
into a crowd with a large travel bag and announced in Egyptian Arabic:
"I have a bomb", Reuters said.
Some
people moved away but others thought he was joking, said the witness,
who asked not to be named.
Two
minutes later an explosion took place where he had put the bag, she
added.
"I
saw a car flying up in the air, people running," restaurant owner
Yehya Mohammed said by telephone.
"I
do not think I will ever forget this in my life. This is a horrible
setback for tourism here."
An
emergency services official said many wounded were Egyptian workers
gathered at a cafe in the old market. Seventeen of the dead were burnt
beyond recognition.
Taba
Links
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A booby-trapped car rammed into the Ghazala hotel, leaving the luxury site totally devastated. (Reuters)
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Speaking
from the devastated tourist resort, Interior Minister Habib Al-Adly
told the official MENA news agency that security services already had
leads on who carried out the attacks.
He
highlighted a possible connection with October bombings that killed 34
people further north in the Sinai peninsula.
"We
have indications that could lead security services to those
responsible for these terrorist operations," he said.
"These
elements suggest that the bombings may be linked to those that took
place in Taba".
The
October 2004 bombings had targeted the Hilton hotel in Taba -- which
lies on the border with Israel at the north of Gulf of Aqaba – and
two other resort camps in Nuweiba, further down the coast, killing 34
dead, including several Israelis.
An
Al-Qaeda-linked group, calling itself Al-Qaeda organization in the
Levant and Egypt, claimed the bombings.
A
statement posted on a Web site said the group's fighters "have
dealt a devastating blow to the Crusaders and the Zionists and the
infidel Egyptian regime in Sharm al-Sheikh."
The
same group was one of several to claim the Taba bombings.
Anti-terrorist
units were rushed to Sharm El-Sheikh and tight security was
immediately slapped on the area.
"We
have cancelled all holidays and dispatched the bulk of our
anti-terrorist units to Sharm. We are at the highest level of alert
across the country," a high-ranking security official told AFP.
Receptionists
at nearby hotels told AFP that many guests had warned they would cut
their holidays short and small groups of haggard tourists could be
seen dragging their luggage among the debris to board buses leaving
the resort.
The
attacks came on the 53rd anniversary of the 1952 revolution, meaning
scores of Egyptians were also on an extended holiday weekend.
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