At least five killed in tourist bus explosion on Sinai border

Egyptian officials: South Korean tourists, Egyptian driver among the dead; dozens hurt; blast sets bus alight; some of wounded evacuated to Eilat.

At least five people were killed and dozens wounded in an explosion on a tourist bus in Egypt's Sinai near the Israeli border, Egyptian military and police said. 

 

Four of the victims were South Korean tourists, and the fifth one was an Egyptian bus driver, Egyptian security officials said.

The officials said the source of the explosion was not clear, but they believe it was either a car bomb or a roadside bomb that was detonated by remote control.

 

Tourist bus explosion near Taba border crossing.

 

The wounded were being treated in hospitals in Egypt and across the border in the Israeli port city of Eilat, said the officials.

 

The officials said the bus was carrying 33 South Korean tourists and had arrived at Taba from the ancient Greek Orthodox St. Catherine's monastery in central Sinai.

 

An Israeli police spokesman said no Israeli citizens were on the bus.

 

Sinai tourist bus explosion near Taba border crossing.

 

Egyptian security forces have moved to seal off all entry and exit points from Taba border in an attempt to catch the perpetrators.

 

The Ansar Bait al-Maqdis terrorist group reportedly took responsibility for the blast.

"There is a small smoke cloud near the (border) fence, about 50 meters south of the border crossing," an eye witness said.

 

Emergency responders were on their way to the scene of the explosion. Israeli police said they were preparing medics to treat any casualties from the explosion.

 

"The event is happening on the Egyptian side, and we are making our preparations," a police spokesman said.

 

Egypt has been rocked by political turmoil and violence since the army overthrew president Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July after mass protests against his rule.

 

Islamist militants based in the largely lawless Sinai peninsula near Israel have stepped up attacks on security forces since Mursi's downfall, killing hundreds.

 

Dozens were killed and over 150 people were wounded in a 2004 terror attack in the Taba Hilton Hotel in Sinai when a car bomb exploded at the entrance to the building. Thirteen of the dead and over a 100 of the wounded were Israeli

Y nett.