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Attack on Hurghada hotel robbery attempt, not terror act - Tourism Ministry

An official of the Egyptian Health Ministry’s in the Red Sea province told TASS previously that a couple from Austria and a Swedish citizen were wounded in the attack

CAIRO, January 9. /TASS/. The Friday night attack on the Bella Vista Resort Hotel in the Red Sea beach town of Hurghada was an armed robbery attempt, and not a terrorist attack, Egypt’s Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou said on Saturday.

"In any case, such incidents can have extremely negative consequences for the Egyptian tourism and nullify all the efforts of the authorities to attract foreign tourists to the country," he said.

According to him, the ministry representatives have visited at hospital those wounded in the attack to make sure that the wounds are not grave. "They will be discharged from the hospital within a few hours after getting medical care."

An official of the Egyptian Health Ministry’s in the Red Sea province told TASS previously that a couple from Austria and a Swedish citizen were wounded in the attack.

A group of Islamists from the supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood association that is banned in Egypt hurled lit flares and fired from shotguns on Friday at a bus with Israeli tourists at the entrance to the Three Pyramids Hotel. Nobody was hurt then. The Egyptian authorities said the attack was "a criminal offense" and not a terrorist attack.

The men threw "home-made fireworks" and one shot "a pellet gun" towards security staff in front of the hotel, a short drive from Cairo’s most famous ancient site, according to government officials. An Egyptian Security Information Center spokesperson said: "Approximately 15 unidentified individuals gathered at a side street in the area near the Three Pyramids Hotel. As they passed by the hotel, the individuals threw home-made fireworks in the direction of the security officers stationed at the hotel to disperse them.".