re: re:its because of iraq....now click your heels Blasts kill...

re: re:its because of iraq....now click your heels Blasts kill 50 in Egyptian resort
15:40 AEST Sat Jul 23 2005
AAP
AP - At least 50 people died when a string of suspected car bombs ripped through hotels and bazaars in the Egyptian Red Sea tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Medical sources said at least 50 people died in the blasts and rescue officials said another 150 were wounded, 120 of them seriously.

Britons, Dutch, Qataris, Kuwaitis and Egyptians were among the casualties, police sources said.

Shaken tourists spoke of mass panic and hysteria as people fled bomb after bomb, with bodies strewn across the roads.

The rescue official, who asked not to be named, said many wounded were Egyptian workers who had gathered at a cafe in the old market.

He said 17 of the dead were burnt beyond recognition by the explosions, apparently caused by up to seven car bombs planted near hotels and bazaars frequented by tourists.




The blasts came within minutes of each other shortly after 1am (0800 AEST), at a time when many tourists were still out in bars and markets in the popular resort.

"I have never been so scared in the whole of my life," British tourist Samantha Hardcastle told BBC television.

"The explosion we felt was very violent and the hotel we are staying in shook," she said. "It was absolutely horrific."

A police source said one bomb appeared to have exploded near the bazaar in Sharm el-Sheikh itself, with at least three more in the luxury hotel strip of Naama Bay, about six kilometres away, which is popular with divers and holidaymakers from Europe.

A tourist bazaar, the Ghazala Gardens Hotel and the Moevenpick Hotel were the targets there, he said. One witness said a taxi rank was also hit.

In what to appeared to be the most devastating explosion, 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 hotel employee said.

Witnesses said the front of the hotel was completely destroyed and the force of the blast sent debris flying more than 100 metres from the building.

Rescue officials said they feared people were still trapped in the debris.

While there was no immediate indication as to who had carried out the blasts, anti-terrorist units were rushed to the scene.

Tight security was immediately slapped on the area.

"Many of the injuries are very serious and they are in critical condition," said a doctor at Sharm el-Sheikh International Hospital who asked not to be named.

Fire and smoke billowed over Sharm el-Sheikh after the first explosion there, one resident said.

Residents said the blasts shook homes 10 kilometres away and blew out windows closer to the blasts.

Charlie Ives, a London policeman on holiday after dealing with the aftermath of bombings in the British capital, said he and his wife tried to get away from the scene of a first bomb only to witness a second blast four minutes later.

"The whole area was quickly covered in debris. There was a huge ball of smoke that mushroomed up, it was mass hysteria," he told BBC World television.

Tourist Fabio Basone told the BBC the front of one hotel had been completely blown away, with car and shop windows blown out.

"People were trying to run in any direction to get away, but were not clear where to go," he said.

A Sharm el-Sheikh resident who went to the bazaar saw the skeleton of one vehicle and many other badly damaged cars.

"People said they had seen dozens of casualties taken away," he told said.

A US State Department spokesman in Washington said: "We condemn this act in the strongest possible terms. There can be no excuse for the targeting of innocent civilians."

Tourists have been targeted in Egypt in earlier attacks.

Three tourists were killed and others wounded in two bombings in the Egyptian capital Cairo in April.

In October, 34 people were killed by car and truck bombs at resorts popular with Israelis, mostly at the Taba Hilton on the Israeli border. Those attacks were further north, on the eastern coast of the Sinai Peninsula closer to Israel.

Tourism is a major source of revenue and employment in Egypt, which needs to create about 650,000 jobs a year for its youthful population. Some analysts say Egypt attracted extra visitors this year after many avoided tsunami-hit Asia.