Death toll to Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh blasts rises to 30:

Death toll to the blasts in Egyptian tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheik in the Sinai Peninsula early Saturday rose to at least 30 people, with about 100 others injured, police sources said.

They said four car bombs rocked the Sharm el-Sheikh bazaar and hotels at nearby Naama Bay.

According to rescue teams on the scene, one of the bombs went off inside Sharm el-Sheikh's Ghazala hotel and another caused part of a shopping mall to collapse.

The blasts caused pandemonium as people rushed to go home for fear of more bombs, said one resident.

Residents said the blasts blew out windows in apartment blocks. Earlier, police sources said the first explosion, shortly after 1 am local time (2200 GMT Friday), was heard more than one km away.

It started a fire and smoke billowed over the town.

About minutes later, other explosions were audible from the direction of Naama Bay which has dozens of luxury hotels popular with divers and holiday makers from Europe, they added.

No immediate information on the nature of the explosions was available yet.

People noted that the blasts occurred as the popular Sinai resort at the peak of its summer tourist season with many foreigners, especially the Europeans enjoyed their holidays there.

On Oct. 7, 2004, Islamic militants detonate bombs in Egypt's other Sinai resorts of Taba and Ras Shitan, killing 34 people, including more than 10 Israelis, and wounding more than 100.

Source: Xinhua