100 dead, hurt in resort blasts
2004-10-07 23:48
Cairo - Three explosions shook popular resorts on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Thursday night, where many Israelis were holidaying at the close of a Jewish holiday.
Unconfirmed reports say at least 100 people are dead or injured.
The first blast shook the Hilton hotel in the Taba resort, only metres from the Israeli border.
Israeli medics said they had transferred 22 wounded people to hospitals, but there were believed to be many more.
Witnesses said there were people trapped under the ruins of the western side of the hotel.
Egyptian security officials said there were "a large number of wounded". Israel sent ambulances and helicopters to evacuate the wounded.
Two smaller blasts occurred about two hours later in the area of Ras al Shitan, a camping area full of Israeli tourists south of Taba, witnesses said.
"I heard one very big explosion coming from Taba direction and then, after a while, I heard two smaller explosions from Nuweiba," near Ras al Shitan, human rights activist Abdel Raziq said by telephone.
- AP