EGYPT: 75 KILLED IN BLASTSEgypt-(Reuters)0100 local time (2200 GMT), Several blasts killed at least 75 people in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik during rush hour with the city full of tourists. The number of people wounded is still rising and has reached more than 150.
According to the BBC,
the first explosion was heard in the area of the old market and
the second two happened in the Naama Bay area where a suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden car into the front of the Ghazala Gardens Hotel.
A third bomb was apparently heard blowing up by some witnesses but further details are still not available.
A hotel employee described the scene to an AFP journalist,
"A suicide car bomber forced the barrier at the entrance of the hotel. A member of the security staff tried to stop him but he sped towards the reception and there was a huge explosion."
Not far away, near the Moevenpick Hotel, a second bomb went off killing and wounding people as well as causing damage to the buildings and the cars nearby.
According to Egyptian Health Minister Muhammad Awad Taj al-Din, the number of deaths is bound to rise:
"Until now, the number of killed has reached 62 and 110 wounded have been brought to the hospital in Sharm al-Shaikh," the Minister told al-Jazeera, adding that the toll will probably continue to grow.
Rescue officials have said that many of the victims were probably Egyptian workers on their lunch-break. French people, Spanish, Italians and British were among the victims too.
Rescue teams are now at work to try to get survivors out of the debris that is covering the area. Israel has offered to send some soldiers in an attempt to help coordinating the emergency.
Egyptian Interior Minister Habib al-Adli and US Secretary of State Coondoleeza Rice agreed on describing the facts as an "ugly act of terrorism" and "horrific terrorist bombings," as they told AFP.
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Il Romanaccio at 10:11 AM
