Egypt blasts: 28 dead
2004-10-08 13:55
Jerusalem - Twenty-three Israelis and five Egyptians were killed in bomb attacks in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, an Israeli army general said on Friday, stressing it was a provisional toll.
"For the moment, 28 bodies have been recovered, including those of 23 Israelis and five Egyptians," General Yair Naveh told Israeli public radio.
The revised toll included the attacks on both the Hilton Taba hotel and a restaurant further south down the Sinai peninsula.
"We think there are more dead under the rubble, but work to clear the rubble will take time, no doubt several days," the general said, adding that around 20 people were hospitalised in Israel.
At the scene, the Israeli rescue operations chief at the hotel said that hope was fading of finding survivors in the rubble.
"There is minimal hope of finding survivors because the explosion was very powerful," said Shamun Romash, estimating about 100kg of explosives had been used in the attack.