Egypt said at least 22 people were killed and 150 others were wounded in explosions in the coastal resort of Dahab, according to state-run television. At least four of the dead were foreigners.
The New York Times cited a toll of 30 dead, attributing the figure to the Ministry of Health. Basma Mahmoud, a spokeswoman at Egypt's United Nations mission in New York said three successive explosions took place at the el-Mashrabiyah Hotel.
Egypt's official news service said the blasts happened in a commercial market, ``near coffee shops popular with tourists, by the beach.'' The differing accounts couldn't immediately be reconciled.
While there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the bombings came a day after the broadcast of an audio message attributed to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden that threatened the U.S. and other Western countries. Egypt is a major U.S. ally in the Arab world.
Dahab is located on the eastern side of the Sinai Peninsula, on the Gulf of Aqaba. The governor of the province, Mohamed Hani Metwali, told the Egyptian news agency that all roads and access to Dahab and cities in the area were sealed off as authorities hunted for suspects.
Resorts Targeted
The attack is the latest to strike coastal resorts on the Sinai, which abuts Israel and is popular with Israeli tourists. At least 64 people died in July in coordinated bombings at hotels in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, south of Dahab. Bombings in and around the Egyptian Sinai resort of Taba in 2004 killed 34 people, including Israelis.
Among those injured in the Dahab attack were nationals of Italy, France, Denmark and Georgia, along with Egyptians who worked in the market area bombed, Egypt's state-run Nile TV reported.
The New York Times cited a toll of 30 dead, attributing the figure to the Ministry of Health. Basma Mahmoud, a spokeswoman at Egypt's United Nations mission in New York said three successive explosions took place at the el-Mashrabiyah Hotel.
Egypt's official news service said the blasts happened in a commercial market, ``near coffee shops popular with tourists, by the beach.'' The differing accounts couldn't immediately be reconciled.
While there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the bombings came a day after the broadcast of an audio message attributed to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden that threatened the U.S. and other Western countries. Egypt is a major U.S. ally in the Arab world.
Dahab is located on the eastern side of the Sinai Peninsula, on the Gulf of Aqaba. The governor of the province, Mohamed Hani Metwali, told the Egyptian news agency that all roads and access to Dahab and cities in the area were sealed off as authorities hunted for suspects.
Resorts Targeted
The attack is the latest to strike coastal resorts on the Sinai, which abuts Israel and is popular with Israeli tourists. At least 64 people died in July in coordinated bombings at hotels in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, south of Dahab. Bombings in and around the Egyptian Sinai resort of Taba in 2004 killed 34 people, including Israelis.
Among those injured in the Dahab attack were nationals of Italy, France, Denmark and Georgia, along with Egyptians who worked in the market area bombed, Egypt's state-run Nile TV reported.
'I saw people without heads'
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The interior ministry said the blasts ripped through the Ghazala supermarket and the Nelson and Aladdin restaurants in central Dahab, which lies on the south-east of the peninsula about 530km by road from Cairo.
"We have 10 complete bodies and body parts for 12 other people," Doctor Said Issa, the head of medical emergencies for the South Sinai governorate, told reporters.
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The interior ministry said the blasts ripped through the Ghazala supermarket and the Nelson and Aladdin restaurants in central Dahab, which lies on the south-east of the peninsula about 530km by road from Cairo.
"We have 10 complete bodies and body parts for 12 other people," Doctor Said Issa, the head of medical emergencies for the South Sinai governorate, told reporters.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/...icle359922.ece
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