Flight from terror

Jul 24 2005 By Coreena Ford, Eleanor Gregson And Steve Brown, The Sunday Sun

Travel bosses may send a mercy flight to Egypt to bring home terrified North tourists, it emerged last night.

The move comes after two Britons were last night feared to be among the 88 dead following a devastating series of terror blasts in one of the country's most popular resorts.

At least another 100 people were injured in the explosions at Sharm El Sheikh.

Among them were eight Britons including a 14-year-old girl and a 30-year-old man who were airlifted to a military hospital in Cairo in a critical condition.

A full flight of 235 passengers from the North jetted to Sharm El Sheikh on a Thomas Cook plane on Thursday, having booked holidays to the idyllic resort through three separate tour operators.

One tour operator last night revealed it was "looking into the logistics" of chartering a relief plane to bring frantic holidaymakers home.

A spokeswoman for Newcastle International Airport said: "I have contacted Thomas Cook and they say a relief flight is currently under consideration.

"They are looking into the logistics of sending a plane out right now and will make a decision soon."

It's believed Thomas Cook, First Choice and Thomsons all have sunseekers from the region staying in the resort, and the three are joining forces to offer as much assistance as possible.

Claire Peters of First Choice said: "People are being given the opportunity to come back early in these extreme circumstances and all the tour operators are pulling together."

An estimated 9000 Britons were thought to have been in the resort when the three bombs hit in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Two car bombs, each packed with hundreds of pounds of explosives, were detonated simultaneously, possibly by suicide bombers, at 1.15am local time.

The first slammed into the Ghazala Gardens Hotel in the town's Namma Bay and a second exploded in the city's Old Market area, frequented mainly by Egyptians working in the resorts.

The lobby of the Ghazala collapsed while the market blast tore through a coffee shop.

A third bomb - believed to have been hidden in a sack - went off at a popular beachside walkway around the same time.

The British Ambassador to Egypt, Sir Derek Plumbly, later said a "number of Britons" had been reported killed. But there remained no official confirmation of the deaths.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "As it stands at the moment there could be a number of British deaths but we don't have official confirmation of figures."

Sir Derek also said British officials had been processing emergency documents for many people who had lost their passports.

He added: "There are thousands of British tourists in Sharm El Sheikh at this time of year."

He said there had been no "specific warnings" about an attack although officials had been saying "for some time" that there was a high threat of terrorism.

Another flight of 200-plus passengers is due to fly out from Newcastle on Thursday. A decision will be made tomorrow as to whether people can cancel their trip and get a full refund.

There were conflicting claims of responsibility for the attacks from the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a group linked to al Qaida, and the previously unknown Holy Warriors of Egypt.

Couple tell of holiday shock

Terrified tourists Steve and Jane Wilson have described how the force of the three blasts in Sharm el Sheikh shook their hotel room . . . even though it was a mile away from the bombings.

And the County Durham couple - who were only a day into their family holiday when the atrocity struck - say they have been left so badly shaken that they are considering coming home early.

Steve, 38, and Jane, 36, paid £3500 for their two-week stay in the luxurious Dreams Beach Resort which they described as a "slice of paradise" to enjoy with their two children, Sam, aged eight, and Abbi, 11.

"But we may still cut the holiday short. We're in a pickle as to what to do because we want to stay but we're obviously very concerned," said Steve, a builder.

"We haven't decided what to do yet. We'll make a decision after having a good sit down talk with the rep.

"We were in bed when we heard the first blast, which shook the windows of our room and sent us bolting out of bed to see what had happened.

"Looking out from our balcony we couldn't see anything, so headed back to bed, and we then woken by another two huge explosions.

"A couple who were sat on their balcony close to ours said the force of the blast blew their hair away from their faces . . . and that's the effect it had a mile away.

"We went down to reception, demanding to know what had happened - everyone was hysterical - and the guy behind the desk said he thought it was just a weather anomaly.

"When we found out three bombs had gone off we couldn't believe it. We're still in shock now, and concerned.

"This place is absolutely beautiful, with clear blue skies and heat - the last place you'd expect this to happen.

"At our resort, everyone is trying to carry on with their holiday around the pool with the typically British "stiff-upper-lip" attitude, and we're trying to keep it under wraps from the children so we don't scare them too much."

Page 2: Family have lucky escape from scene of blasts