At least 30 people have been killed and more than 150 others injured by bombs which ripped through a hotel, restaurant and market in Dahab, a popular diving and holiday resort on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
The three blasts went off in rapid succession causing devastation and panic in el-Mabat, a laid-back district of the Red Sea town popular with Western backpackers.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called the blasts a terrorist act, the state news MENA reported.
“The president stressed the need to ... track down those responsible for this wicked terrorist act so that they pay the penalty by force of law,” MENA said.
Details of the number of people killed were unclear, ranging from five to more than 100. A local official told the Reuters news agency that 30 people were confirmed dead, the majority of whom were foreign tourists.
Dr Said Essa, who runs the region's medical emergency team, said that 17 people had been killed and 150 injured at the el-Khaleeg Hotel alone. Witnesses reported seeing body parts strewn across the road outside a restaurant. There were further reports of smoke rising from a police station in the old market area.
The explosions were said to have occurred at shortly after 7.15pm local time (6.15pm BST) today, which is the Coptic Easter holiday. Police confirmed that more than 20 ambulances had been despatched to the scenes.
The manager of the Dahab Divers Hotel and Dive Centre said that there was an explosion about 200 yards from his office. He said he believed that two restaurants had been targeted, although this has not been confirmed.
He said: "There was 20 to 30 metres between each of the bombs. It’s not a car bomb thing. They were inside the restaurants. Someone maybe put it under the table."
Magdi Gadakkah, an eyewitness, told Sky News: "We heard the explosion and a very big white cloud in the sky...it was a sort of firework in the air.
"A few minutes later there were a lot of police cars, ambulances and half-trucks carrying wounded people. They were white bodies. Some were being wrapped in bedsheets and blankets. I would say I have seen approximately 15 to 20 dead bodies passing by."
A hotel worker told the BBC: "I heard three large explosions. There was a lot of smoke and there has since been a steady stream of vehicles carrying wounded to the hospital - trucks, taxis, whatever was closest by. The moment we saw a lot of bloody people coming by we knew what had happened."
He said that the blasts all occurred among the bars, restaurants and clubs in the centre of the town shortly after nightfall when it was busy with tourists.
He said: "The area has been cleared out and what we have now is a kind of ordered chaos."
Paul McBeath, a British tourist, told Sky News that the explosions had come with "no warning whatsoever". He described widespread damage, adding: "There were just three loud bangs and people rushing around. Everybody is shaken."
An Interior Ministry official confirmed there had been explosions but said he had no further information. "There were explosions but the picture is still not clear," he said.
In a telephone interview with the Israeli TV station Channel 10, Shalom Cohen, Israel's ambassador in Cairo, said that there had been repeated warnings from the Israeli government against visiting the Sinai Desert, where Israelis have been targeted in attacks in the past.
"Unfortunately, the warnings came true," he said.
Dahab is about 40 miles north of Sharm el-Sheikh on the Gulf of Aqaba, on the east coast of the peninsula. It is known as the Goa of the Red Sea due to its bohemian lifestyle, multi-cultural beach restaurants, relaxed attitude to cannabis use and growing tourist trade.
Sabina Shaida, managing director of Egypt specialist Mosaic Holidays, said that it was an up-and-coming resort. "It’s not as popular as Sharm el-Sheikh, but we are getting increasing interest in it.
"Historically it’s attracted lone travellers and backpackers who enjoy the more bohemian lifestyle which has a long tradition throughout Sinai.
"It is enjoying a growing popularity among foreigners and Egyptians. This week is their half-term holiday so there’ll be lots of children around."
A spokesman for ABTA tonight advised friends and relatives to contact tour operators or the Foreign Office for further information. He estimated that the number of tourists at the resort would be in the "low thousands" with no more than a few hundred Britons.
He added: "Egypt is by far the most popular Africa destination. The authorities have had problems with terrorism over the past few years and they take security very seriously.
"Dahab is not one of the more popular destinations for British tourists. However, we will be liaising with our members to see what customers have been affected and give them every possible assistance."
There have been two terror attacks in Sinai since October 2004, when 34 people were killed at the Taba Hilton and the Ras as-Shitan resorts.
Last July, 88 people were killed and more than 200 were wounded when two car bombs and a suitcase ripped through hotels and shopping areas in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Today’s bombs came 24 hours a wide-ranging audio-taped message from Osama bin Laden was broadcast by al-Jazeera. Bin Landen attempted to justify terror attacks on Western civilians by arguing they were as responsible as their governments for the "Zionist crusaders’ war against Islam".
"While the war continues, the people renew their allegiance to their rulers and politicians and continue to send their sons to our countries to fight us," he declared. "They send their sons to armies to fight us and they continue their financial and moral support while our houses are bombed and our people are killed."
On Wednesday last week the Egyptian Government said that it had arrested a group of 22 militant Islamists planning bomb attacks on tourist targets, a gas pipeline near Cairo and Muslim and Christian religious leaders.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement the underground organisation called itself the Victorious Group and had members in suburbs northeast and south of the capital. It said they had downloaded from the internet information on how to make explosives and poisons but did not indicate they had succeeded in making them. It did not mention any weapons.
Tourist targets
July 2005: 88 dead after bombings in resort city of Sharm-el-Sheikh
April 2005: 3 killed in suicide bombing in Cairo bazaar
October 2004: 34 killed in attacks in and around the Red Sea resort of Taba
November 1997: 62 massacred by gunmen at ancient temple in Valley of the Kings
