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Sinai terror: Dozens killed in Taba hotel blast By Amos Harel, Yuval Azoulay, Revital Levy-Stein and Yossi Melman Tags: Egypt, terror, Sinai At least 35 Israelis were killed and 120 injured last night in a massive blast at the Taba Hilton in Egypt, police sources said. Dozens more were wounded and others died in two more explosions that ripped through a popular resort south of Taba, the sources added. The Foreign Ministry said it was preparing to evacuate some 12,00-15,000 Israelis still in Sinai. The first blast shook the Taba Hilton on the Israel-Egyptian border at 10 P.M. Security sources said the blast was believed to have been caused by a truck packed with explosives that was placed outside the hotel by Muslim extremist organizations in Egypt. Advertisement Egyptian security officials said there was no evidence of terrorism, but Army Radio said the Taba explosion was believed to have been a car bomb, and witnesses at the other two sites told relatives that cars had exploded. Two smaller blasts occurred about an hour after the Hilton explosion, in the Ras al Satan camping area south of Taba, which was full of Israelis, witnesses said. Last night's attacks appears to be the worst ever at a target with a large concentration of Israelis. Witnesses said 10 stories of the Taba Hilton had collapsed, trapping dozens. An official at Taba Hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said 27 bodies had been brought in from the Taba explosion and two more Ras al Satan. An official at the Nuweiba hospital said two more bodies arrived there. Taba Hospital was treating at least 100 injured, and Nuweiba 14. In addition, Israeli medics said they had transferred 22 injured to Israeli hospitals in ambulances and helicopters. Amsalem Sarrag, whose uncle and cousin own camps in Ras al Satan, said both told him that Israeli cars exploded outside their camps. The two blasts were only five seconds apart, he said. Three weeks ago, terror specialists in the Prime Minister's Office and the Foreign Ministry warned Israeli travelers against visiting Egyptian resorts on the Red Sea. However it was a general warning of the type issued with regard to Thailand, Kenya, Bali and other destinations. Thousands of Israelis disregarded the warnings and streamed to the Sinai for the holidays. Brigadier General (res.) Danny Arditi recommended last night that Israelis in Sinai leave the area as soon as possible, as it was uncertain whether additional attacks had been planned. The security establishment warned that Hamas militants might infiltrate Egypt from Gaza to attack Israelis. Security sources are now saying that another warning was received that Israelis in Sinai might be targeted by Egyptian militants influenced by Al-Qaida. The sources said Israeli intelligence reported the warnings to the Egyptians and cooperation was forthcoming, as it was in Egypt's interest to fight against terror on its soil. The second scenario appeared likely to intelligence sources last night. The sources said Hamas would be wary of coming into direct conflict with Egypt while talks were ongoing in Cairo between Egypt and the various Palestinian organizations about cease-fire in advance of an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The IDF dispatched large forces last night to the Eilat area, and the Air Force sent helicopters to a base on the Jordanian border. At midnight helicopters began ferrying personnel belonging to IDF Home Front Command rescue teams to assist in the evacuation of victims from the ruins of the hotel. The chief of the Home Front Command, General Yair Naveh took personal charge of the rescue efforts from a front line command post in Eilat. General (res.) Amos Gilad, chief of the Defense Ministry security department was coordinating the passage of the rescue teams over the border with the head of Egyptian intelligence, General Omar Suleiman. The IDF sent military doctors to beef up the staff at Eilat's Joseftal Hospital, to which many of the wounded had been evacuated. The Soroka Medical Center, Be'er Sheva, also prepared to receive the injured, but at midnight none had yet been sent there. Medical teams from Magen David Adom in Be'er Sheva were airlifted from Be'er Sheva to Eilat. Immediately after the blast, Israel dispatched rescue teams to the border, accompanied by ambulances and members of the IDF's home front command. Some 45 minutes after the blast, the Egyptian authorities opened the border and allowed the Israeli personnel to enter. Meanwhile the Israel Air Force began flying in rescue teams. One witness, David Suskind, said that they saw no Egyptian ambulances at all. "The Egyptians are confused and there are several teams and soldiers running around who want to help but they can't. There are many injured and everything is crushed. All the Egyptians are doing is sending us from place to place." Suskind said that the Egyptian border station at Taba was also destroyed and Israelis were passing through freely to the Israeli side. Shoni Nemesh, from Tel Aviv, crossed back into Israel alone from the Taba Hilton. He appeared distraught after being unable to locate his two traveling companions who he had last seen entering a hotel rest room. Shari and Herzl David, from Holon, were on the Egyptian side of the border crossing on way to the casino at Taba when they heard the blast. "We ran back to the Israeli side of the border but the Egyptians drew their weapons and pinned us to the wall. We were about 50 people and it was terribly frightening." Shari said an Israeli soldier told them to hit the ground and at a certain point told them to get up and run to Israeli territory. At 1 A.M. Channel 10 TV news reported that the Egyptians were refusing to allow Israeli rescue helicopters to land at Ras al Satan where the second and third blasts took place. However it was also reported that Israeli military personnel had taken command of rescue work at the scene of the Taba blast. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Lost giant Endangered sea turtle washes up on Gaza's shore and is eaten. Not worried Nearly half of Israeli Arabs say let Iran develop nukes.

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