Egypt hotel bomb blamed on al-Qaida

Al-Qaida terrorists were blamed today for the car bomb attacks in resorts on Egypt’s Sinai coast that are feared to have killed more than 50 people, most of them Israelis.

Israelis fled home across the nearby border after an explosion sheared outer rooms from a 10 storey wing of the luxury Hilton hotel in Taba, where rescue workers gave up hope of finding more survivors.

The hotel death toll stood at 28 tonight but officials said 30 people were missing and believed to be under the rubble.

“We are still searching for life. We are digging almost by hand,” Israeli Major-General Yair Naveh said “Until we reach the bottom of the hotel we may still find people.”

Gefan Naty, an Israeli military rescue worker, said that finding more survivors was unlikely.

“I don’t believe anyone is still alive. We just pulled out one child, aged about ten. Who was dead,” he said.

Carpets and insulation hung from the gaping façade of the hotel, where Israeli rescuers – who complained they were prevented from quick access to the scene - and Egyptian Red Crescent workers were digging for victims. Bedsheets swinging from balconies was evidence of the frantic efforts of hotel guests to escape Thursday night’s blast.

No credible claims of responsibility emerged immediately, though suspicion for the clearly co-ordinated car blasts and, according to some reports, a suicide bombing, fell quickly on al-Qaida-inspired militants.

Two smaller blasts followed in Ras Shitan, a camping area near the town of Nuweiba, 35 miles south of Taba.

Israeli intelligence chief Major General Aharon Zeevi-Farkash told Cabinet ministers that the bombings most likely were carried out by al-Qaida.

The most devastating of the Thursday night strikes were at the Taba Hilton, where a car laden with explosives crashed into the lobby of the hotel and exploded.

The gutted, burned out shell of a vehicle rested inside a hotel meeting room.

Rescuer Naty said a mother and daughter fell from the seventh floor to the first the mother died of her injuries, but the daughter survived.

He said he believed rescue workers could have saved the mother if they been allowed to get to the scene earlier. Egyptian authorities, he said, delayed their arrival: “I don’t know why.”

Egyptian government spokesman Magdy Rady denied any delays in allowing the Israelis in, saying “There was no such a thing – no delay at all. Don’t believe the Israelis.”

The dead included 19 Israelis, six Egyptians and the rest foreigners whose nationalities were not immediately determined. Two Italian sisters were said to be among the missing.

About 160 people were injured, including at least two Britons.

On the night of the attack, the hotel had about 900 guests and 500 staff.

Meir Frajun said his three children were playing one floor below the lobby when the blast tore through the building. He went down but found only two of them.

“Everything was filled with smoke,” Frajun said after crossing into the nearby Israeli resort of Eilat. “We were hysterically looking for the child. In the end we found him sitting outside with an Arab guest of the hotel.”

Sinai’s resorts were particularly crowded, with holidays in Egypt and Israel.