SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (24 July 2005) -- Hundreds of foreign tourists packed their bags and flew home from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday after bombs killed scores of people in the worst attack in Egypt since 1981. Busloads of tourists, many sunburned and toting scuba diving gear, streamed off buses at the Sharm al-Sheikh airport for flights back to European capitals. Egyptian police stepped up roadblocks around the town at the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula and detained 35 people who might have information about the bombers. But authorities released no substantial information about investigations into Saturday's bombings, which are expected to hit hard the valuable Egyptian tourism industry. They also gave conflicting figures for the number of casualties. An official source in Sharm el-Sheikh said the death toll was 88 but Minister of Health MohamedAwad Tag el-Din told Egyptian television on Sunday that 63 died. The dead included seven non-Egyptians, including a Czech and an Italian, the Tourism Ministry said. The nationalities of the others was not clear, a spokeswoman said. There were instant repercussions on Egypt's economy, with the benchmark stock exchange index falling 4.5 percent within 10 minutes of trade reopening on Sunday, but it soon stabilized at a level just over 3 percent down. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Saturday the attacks -- targeting a showpiece of Egypt's tourism industry -- would only serve to stiffen his resolve to combat militants. ARRIVAL TERMINAL EMPTY That was little consolation for tourists like Oliver Tatzmann, an Austrian information technology administrator who cut his trip short at his mother's request to return home after just one full day. "It doesn't feel like a holiday anymore," he said as he and his girlfriend Sylvia pulled bags from an Egyptian taxi. "People look depressed." Most of those leaving were on regularly scheduled flights, although some tourists left early. But the arrival terminal was deserted for most of the morning except for a handful of tourists from Austria, who said their flight was nearly empty. "Most people just want to leave early. Just imagine if you were a tourist and you heard about these explosions. Do you think you would want to stay?" said Youssef Moussa, an airport greeter with tourist firm Travco. "All the guests are leaving, but no one comes." A spokeswoman for the Egyptian tourism ministry said it was too early to tell how hard the attacks would affect tourism, a main foreign income earner for the Egyptian economy. But she did expect some cancellations. | | Tourists are fleeing Sharm el-Sheikh after terrorist bombings killed at least 88 and injured hundreds. The first charter flight taking French tourists back from Sharm el-Sheikh arrived in Paris on Sunday with around 200 passengers on board. A medical team was on hand to meet the flight at Roissy airport, north of the capital. French authorities and travel agents are looking into ways to bring back other French citizens who wish to leave. They have also asked those due to travel to Sharm el-Sheikh in the coming days to either delay their trip or change destination. The national union of travel agents has asked its members to offer alternative destinations or delayed departure dates to travelers to Egypt until July 28. A spokesman said around half of the 300 French citizens due to leave this weekend for Sharm el-Sheikh had chosen not to go. On Sunday morning, 293 Swiss tourists cut short their holidays and returned to Zurich from Sharm aboard a specially chartered Airbus. The targets of the three explosions on Sunday were a hotel and two shopping areas popular with tourists. The regional governor said two car bombs and possibly a suitcase bomb had rocked the resort, popular with divers, European holidaymakers and statesmen who have attended world summits in the place Egypt has called "the city of peace." Egyptian Interior Minister Habib el-Adli said it was too early to say whether al Qaeda or other Islamist groups had any connection with the bombings but he said there was probably a link with attacks further north last October. Egyptian authorities blamed those attacks, which killed 34 people mostly at the Taba Hilton hotel on the Israeli border, on a Palestinian leading an unaffiliated group. |
