| Followup to yesterday, revises the corpse count upward... |
Three explosions shook the Egyptian Sinai resort of Dahab yesterday, killing at least 33 people and wounding at least 150, a security official said. Witnesses said smoke could be seen rising from the town’s tourist bazaar, and residents said they saw body parts and debris on the street after an explosion at a restaurant. An official with the local ambulance service said many of the dead appeared to be foreigners.The Dahab resort is popular with Western backpackers and budget Israeli tourists. Many Egyptians were also vacationing in the Sinai Peninsula as the bombings struck on Sham Al-Nessim, a public holiday which traditionally marks the beginning of spring. “Around 7 p.m., we heard three explosions close to the seafront alongside a supermarket in the center of Dahab,” French tourist Frederic Mingeon said from the town. “There was a plume of smoke and people started running and screaming.”
State television said the blasts appeared to have been the result of remote-controlled bombs not suicide bombers. All exits from the town were sealed off by police.
Israel, whose border is less than 160 km from Dahab, immediately offered to send emergency teams to help with rescue efforts. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz “offered to send army rescue teams and doctors”, his ministry said. Hundreds of Israeli tourists were rushing home after the blasts, Israeli police said, although the Defense Ministry could not confirm any Israeli deaths.
The Interior Ministry said the blasts ripped through the Ghazala supermarket and the Nelson and Aladdin restaurants in central Dahab. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak pledged to punish the perpetrators of the bombing. said. “The perpetrators of these heinous acts of terrorism will be tracked down and punished,” Mubarak was quoted by the official MENA news agency as saying.