No Cypriot casualties in resort attack

THE FOREIGN Ministry yesterday confirmed there were no reports of Cypriot casualties in the wake of a string of bomb attacks in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, which left at least 83 people dead and hundreds wounded.

A spokeswoman at the Ministry said, “we are trying to contact everybody and track down every single person to check to see if they are ok”.

The Association of Cyprus Travel Agents (ACTA) issued a press release saying they have set up a crisis management centre, which is looking into matters.

One Cypriot, a male, suffered very minor injuries from flying glass. The Egyptian Embassy yesterday also said there were no Cypriot fatalities.

Dinos Kakkouras, executive director of tour operator Top Kinisis in Nicosia, yesterday told the Sunday Mail that “287 Cypriots are currently in the resort, but as far as we know, none were staying in any of the hotels that have been affected.

“The first flight back to Cyprus will be on Monday as planned, when most of the Cypriots will return. The remainder will fly back the following day.”

Kakkouras went on to say that Sharm el-Sheikh is the most popular destination in Egypt for Cypriots, with around 5,000 visiting the resort every year. Ten thousand Cypriots visit Egypt annually.

ACTA said the incident “will not affect tourists coming to Cyprus, as the island is considered to be one of the safest tourist destinations. We are calling upon the government of Cyprus to heighten security measures, both at points of entry such as airports and ports and at tourist resorts.”

Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos has sent a message of solidarity to his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak, expressing his indignation regarding the attacks.

“At these critical moments when the ugly face of terrorism struck the friendly state of Egypt, I express the solidarity of the Government and the people of Cyprus as well as my condolences and deep sympathy to the families of the victims,” he stated.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.