July 23: The death toll is rising after three bombs exploded at an Egyptian resort town early Saturday. NBC’s Tom Aspell reports from Sharm el-Sheik.
SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt - Egypt's president vowed on Saturday to hunt down terrorists who unleashed a rapid series of car bombs and another blast in this Egyptian Red Sea resort, devastating a luxury hotel and a coffee shop and killing at least 88 people.
The early morning attacks, Egypt's deadliest terror hit ever, came just two days after the latest strikes in London and sent an already jittery world reeling again. At least 119 people were also wounded, Egypt's Interior Ministry said.
With an al-Qaida-linked group claiming responsibility, Egypt tightened security at other busy tourist sites like the Pyramids and Luxor, and the government and British tourist agencies sent large aircraft to the Sinai to fly home now-nervous tourists.
Story continues below ↓ advertisement advertisement
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak flew into Sharm el-Sheik and inspected the scene at the Ghazala hotel. Heavily armed security forces guarded him throughout.
"This cowardly, criminal act is aimed at undermining Egypt's security and stability and harming its people and its guests," Mubarak said later during a live nationally televised broadcast. "This will only increase our determination in chasing terrorism."
Rescue effort ends
Rescue workers gave up the search for more dead or survivors at the Ghazala Gardens hotel, where a car bomb blast flattened the reception area. A few body parts were still being found, but emergency personnel said they did not expect major increases in the death toll.
Egyptian police detained at least 20 people, including local Bedouin tribesmen, for questioning but were not currently suspected of involvement in the blasts, said security officials speaking on condition of anonymity because of the investigation was ongoing. The men were detained near the scene of the bombings.
Pope Benedict XVI was among world political and religious leaders deploring the attacks, calling them "senseless acts." He appealed to terrorists to renounce violence.
Coordinated blasts
The attacks appeared well coordinated. Two massive car bombs, possibly by suicide attackers, went off simultaneously at 1:15 a.m. just more than 2 miles apart.
One car was packed with 660 pounds of explosives and slammed into the reception of the Ghazala Gardens in Sharm's Naama Bay, the main strip of hotels, officials said. The second bomb weighed about 440 pounds and exploded in a nearby area called the Old Market, frequented mainly by Egyptians working in the town's resorts.
A third bomb, believed hidden in a sack, detonated around the same time near a beachside walkway where tourists often stroll at night.
A total of 88 people were confirmed dead, said Dr. Saeed Abdel Fattah, manager of the Sharm el-Sheik International Hospital where the victims were taken. Among the dead were two Britons, two Germans and an Italian, he added, and Czech officials said one Czech tourist was also killed.
Claims of responsibility
There were conflicting claims of responsibility. Several hours after the attacks, a group claiming ties to al-Qaida issued a claim on an Islamic web site.
The group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, al-Qaida, in Syria and Egypt, was one of two extremist groups that also claimed responsibility for October bombings at the Egyptian resorts of Taba and Ras Shitan that killed 34. The group also claimed responsibility for a Cairo bombing in late April.
Hours later, a previously unknown group calling itself the Holy Warriors of Egypt faxed a statement to newspapers discounting the al-Qaida claim and saying it carried out Saturday's attack. It listed the names of five people it said were the bombers.
The authenticity of the statements could not be immediately verified.
A top Egyptian official said there are some indications the latest bombings were linked to last fall's Taba explosions.
"We have some clues, especially about the car that was exploded in the Old Market, and investigators are pursuing," said Interior Minister Habib al-Adli. He called it "an ugly act of terrorism."
Rate this story Low High
•
advertisement
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak vowed to hunt down the terrorists.
A new explosive detonated on Sunday near the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt police said. It was reportedly carried by a man from a tourist bazaar. The man allegedly was carrying the bomb in a sack. It might accidentally have exploded in the area of Kufr Tuhurmus. No other injuries were reported except to the bomber himself, Sami Gamal Ahmad, who was too badly injured to be questioned. The man may have been taking the explosive to the tourist area of Kerdassa, where souvenir shops are located in a bazaar near the pyramids, said an official.

Egyptian security forces have detained 70 suspects in a sweep to find the perpetrators in Saturday's early morning bombings that killed 88 and left hundreds injured.

The police investigation of the bombings has targeted a smaller number of people than the October 2004 roundup that followed attacks in the Sinai resorts of Tabas and Ras Shitan. 3,000 people were detained for questioning in those bombings. According to Canadian ''CTV'', 200 of those people are believed to still be in custody.

A massive manhunt was undertaken in the Sinai Peninsula to identity whether it was foreigners who executed the attack. One security official speaking on the condition of anonymity told an ''Al Jazeera'' reporter that the bombers "did not appear to be locals." But the ''New York Times'' reported that Bedouin leaders were arriving at the local police headquarters, possibly over concerns that many of the suspects picked up in the prior bombing in the region were, by human rights group accounts, Bedouin.

Among the dead, officials said victims included British, Russian, Dutch, Kuwaitis, Saudis, Qataris, Czech Republic, U.S., and native Egyptians. Sixty were identified as Egyptians, and at least eight were foreigners.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said, "The whole world is getting very disturbed. The frequency of attacks seems to be mounting." Badawi chairs the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference.
 
Resort hotels are being abandoned by tourists. At the nearest international airport, hundreds are reported trying to get flights out.

Three bombs erupted in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh just after 1am. At the Ghazala Gardens hotel, work is underway to clear the destroyed reception lobby where emergency teams have gavin up the search for survivors. A car with 660 pounds of explosives drove into the hotel's driveway and detonated in an apparent suicide attack. 

The day of the bombings is marked as an Egyptian national holiday that commemorates the bloodless coup by a group of army officers that brought them to power after deposing King Farouk in 1952. Egypt has been the victim of 15 tourist attacks since October 1992.