Hurghada hotel blames ‘drugged young men’ for tourist stabbing
Management at the Hurghada resort where three tourists were stabbed on Friday have played down the incident, saying it was ‘drugged young men’ with a plastic fake gun and ‘small knives’.
The Bella Vista Resort Hurghada has posted a statement on its Facebook page saying ‘any other rumors or news more than the above is nonsense and crap’.
"Most probably is to make propaganda that will affect the tourism in Egypt badly, and that was the main aim," says the Facebook post. "God bless Egypt."
According to the post, the incident took no more than four minutes.
"One of the attackers used his knife trying to stab some of our guests and then our security and the hotel police man dealt immediately within seconds with the two attackers and shot them down," said the hotel’s statement.
"One was killed by police and the other was injured and captured."
It added that the three injured guests – two from Austria and the other from Sweden – are ‘OK now’.
It claimed one left hospital within two hours of the attack and the other two left hospital the following morning.
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office warned British holidaymakers in the Red Sea resort to stay in a safe location and follow the advice of local authorities after the attack at the hotel in the lively El-Sakkala district of the city.
The BBC said Hurghada was on high alert and all roads closed as police reportedly search for possible further attackers.
Egypt’s tourism minister Hisham Zaazou promised additional security measures to protect tourists as he visited those injured in the lastest attack.
"The welfare of the tourists visiting Egypt is of the greatest importance to us and will continue to be so. No stone will be left unturned to ensure their security," he said.
"Over the coming days we will announce even greater security measures to safeguard all tourists visiting Egypt."
The incident came a day after Israeli tourists were attacked by a group of men at another hotel near to the Giza Pyramids.
A militant group ISIS today claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in response to a call by its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, to target Jews ‘everywhere’.
There were no injuries in that attack and Egyptian officials claimed it wasn’t aimed at tourists but at security forces.
Flights from the UK have been suspended to Sharm el Sheikh since November over fears that a Russian jet, which crashed in the Sinai just after leaving the resort’s airport, was brought down by a bomb planted under a seat. ISIS also claimed responsiblity for the attack, which killed all 224 on board.
Russia has since stopped all flights to Egypt.
Although UK flights have been stopped to Sharm, the UK Government is not advising against visiting the resort.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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