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| Africa North |
| Horrific scenes haunt Dahab survivors |
| 2006-04-26 |
| "It was like war. I'd never seen anything like it before, a child, a baby, blood everywhere," said German doctor Michael Hartlich, shaking at the memory, tears in his eyes. "A boy died in my arms." As the sun rose over the Red Sea on Tuesday, the appalling destruction of three deadly explosions remained littered through the Egyptian holiday resort of Dahab. Flies hovered over patches of blood caked with mud. The lingering acrid smell of burnt flesh laced the sea breeze. Tearful but stoical, holidaymakers and resort workers recounted the chaos that decimated their idyll on Monday's traditional spring holiday and the eve of Sinai Liberation Day commemorating the end of Israeli occupation in 1982. "Sirens went off. People were running around. Police on the streets. Firemen. It was like organised chaos. People picking up bits of people. It was crazy," said 42-year-old diving instructor Paul McBeath from Scotland. He has lived and taught in Dahab for four years. One of his colleagues at the Red Sea Relax school was blown from the shopfront to the seafront by the force of one of the almost simultaneous explosions. At a restaurant named after notorious gangster Al Capone that was gutted by the same blast, uneaten plates of congealed chips remained on tables, half-finished fruit cocktails in glasses. In the bazaar, smashed spice stalls and perfume jars oozed a sickly stench as locals sat staring into space, fighting the urge to cry, and shopkeepers with light bandages shifted through mountains of broken glass. "I saw a lot of bodies. A lot of wounds. A lot of mess. The place was completely destroyed," said 32-year-old Internet cafe owner Ibrahim Sadek. On holiday in Dahab for the past week, Hartlich ran within minutes of hearing the explosions to help with the horrific casualties. "One dead man had his brain out. I sent a baby with a leg cut off to surgery in Sharm el-Sheikh. A boy died in my arms. He had severe chest injuries. He was sitting in the Chinese restaurant," Hartlich said. The doctor worked through the night at the local clinic - "worse than even a jungle hospital", without even water to wash his hands. Security and medical officials said the carnage left 18 dead, revising an earlier count of 23. Some body parts had been attributed to different people when in fact they belonged to the same victim. Officials said: "Twelve Egyptians and six foreigners, including a Swiss national, a Russian, a Lebanese and a five-year-old German child, were killed." Security officials said at least two of the three explosions shortly after 7pm were caused by suicide bombers. Dahab, more affordable than the upmarket Sinai resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh and Taba, which were both hit by attacks since 2004, attracted Europeans and Egyptians alike with its coral and pink mountains behind deep-blue seas. Business had been booming for Easter. Egyptians had escaped the dust of the cities for the glorious sun, sea and diving marvels of Dahab, which means "gold" in Arabic. With Dahab boasting some of the best diving in the world, according to local instructors, businessmen fear their livelihoods have been pulverised by departing tourists and gruesome international television footage. "There will never be tourism in Dahab again or in Egypt. I'm worried about my friends, I'm worried about my future," said 24-year-old jeweller Hani Sadek Mikhail, who came looking for a better life from the Nile Delta. One of his colleagues had a leg amputated and another his face blown off. Following the third Sinai bomb attack in 18 months, many foreigners already knew they were taking a risk by staying in the Sinai. "There have been bombs up and down the coast. You'd have to be pretty stupid to think nothing could happen here," said Jason Lovett, a 36-year-old diving instructor from New Zealand who has worked in the resort for three years. A cruiser liner shimmered on the horizon in the morning haze while rescue workers and swarming journalists picked their way through the rubble, leaving locals begging "why". "Stop violence everywhere. Message to governments: stop war from Dahab," said a chalked message on a blackboard outside one bar. "This is the third time it has happened in Sinai. I don't know why. I think it's Bin Laden," said one local tradesman, referring to al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, from whom an audiotape was released on the eve of the Dahab bombings. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #8 Why do folks vacation here? Because, unlike back home, that's a place where Muzzies don't act as their masters? |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-04-26 21:44 |
| #7 "It was like war. I'd never seen anything like it before, a child, a baby, blood everywhere," said German doctor Michael Hartlich One who doesn't watches "zionist propoganda". |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-04-26 21:42 |
| #6 "It was like war. I'd never seen anything like it before, a child, a baby, blood everywhere," said German doctor Michael Hartlich, shaking at the memory, tears in his eyes. "A boy died in my arms." Herr Doktor just got a reality check...Dar ul-Islam has taken up arms against Dar ul-Harb, and we are *all* on the front lines. Just remember that child dying in your arms the next time you say this isn't your fight. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-04-26 10:33 |
| #5 #1: Again, Why do folks vacation here? Posted by: 3dc|| 2006-04-26 00:48 ||Comments Top|| Good scuba diving, lots of sun, shopping, tours, etc. It's a popular region. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-04-26 10:26 |
| #4 How beautiful islam is. |
| Posted by: newc 2006-04-26 10:23 |
| #3 SPoD-Sadly, I think you are right, at least for a number of Europeans. Whenever I read the pontificating comments from Euro bloggers on the beeb website, I am reminded of how unimaginative, how removed they must be from the aftermath of terror attacks to make the ignorant comments they do. When they go on about the suffering of Palestinians, while ignoring the splatter the Hamas and Hezbollah leave behind; when they go on about the mean policies of the US while ignoring the splatter Al Qaeda leaves behind, I sadly conclude that personal immersion in bloodbaths seems to be the only persuasion that brings them out of their intellectual slumber. The same is true of many leftist Americans, more dedicated to whining about gas prices and press leaks and affirmative action and wire taps than they are about this life and death fight against Islamic Terrorism. |
| Posted by: Jules 2006-04-26 10:01 |
| #2 A good value for the Euro 3dc. They think because they are from Europe nothing will happen to them. |
| Posted by: SPoD 2006-04-26 03:42 |
| #1 Again, Why do folks vacation here? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-04-26 00:48 |