Egyptian killed, Palestinian tourists wounded in hotel fight: medical source

Egyptian killed, Palestinian tourists wounded in hotel fight: medical source
Three Palestinian tourists and two Egyptian hotel workers were injured after a fight broke out in the Egyptian town of Taba on the border with Israel on Friday.
2 min read
Dated 21 January 2001- shows Israeli tourists standing at the Egyptian-Israeli border point between the Red Sea resorts of Eilat and Taba 23 January 2001 [Getty]

An Egyptian worker was killed Friday in a hotel fight that wounded three Palestinian tourists and other workers in the Egyptian seaside town of Taba, a medical source told the AFP news agency.

The worker succumbed to his injuries "in an ambulance transporting him from Taba" on the border with Israel to Sharm al-Sheikh, 200 kilometres south, the source said, requesting anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Three other workers and three Palestinian citizens of Israel were also wounded, state-linked Egyptian media Al-Qahera News reported.

Friday's fight broke out between hotel staff and the tourists "who attempted to obtain services from the hotel without charge", the channel reported.

Al-Qahera News, which is linked to state intelligence, reported security authorities were investigating the incident.

A high-level security source denied Israeli media reports describing the altercation as a "stabbing operation".

The incident occurred in the Egyptian border town of Taba in South Sinai, which is a popular tourist destination for Israelis.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel and has for decades played a key role as mediator between Israeli and Palestinian officials, including in the current war in the Gaza Strip.