Dahab, the morning after

(VIDEO) Souvenirs, broken glass, blood stains litter sidewalks, reminders of horrific attack that tore apart serene beach resort Monday night; locals say they never expected this here, but they’ll bring Dahab back to routine as soon as possible. Ynet correspondent reports from scene of blasts

Ali Waked, Dahab|Published: 04.25.06 , 12:51

VIDEO - A mere 10 meters from Dahab’s sparkling shores, dozens of officers from the Egyptian security forces lined the coast Tuesday morning, trying to get life in the serene beach town back on track after the massive deadly terror attack there Monday evening, which claimed over 20 lives.

Morning after (Video: Yaron Brenner, Dahab)

Until now, Dahab residents and business owners thought terror would never reach them. Together with security forces, the community’s leaders worked to return the Mazbat neighborhood to routine, while assessing the damages from the blasts. Officers from Egypt’s Criminal Identification Unit collected every artifact that could possibly be used as evidence to piece together what happened there, less than 12 hours earlier.

The three near-simultaneous explosions killed 23 people, three of whom were tourists, including a German child. Another 62 people were wounded, most of them local residents and about one-third of them foreign tourists. Aside from three people that suffered shock, no Israelis were counted among the victims.

The coffee shop “Al Capone,” one of the more popular ones in the area, absorbed the brunt of the blast from the first explosion. The remains of souvenir shop across from it testifies to what happened there: Souvenirs are scattered all over the sidewalk, which is also littered with broken glass and blood stains – chilling evidence that even the local cleaning crews can’t remove, signs that seem to want to relate again and again the horrific story of last night’s terror.

Muhammad, who owns a cafeteria across from the Al Capone, spoke about the attack.

“We were sitting by a table with a group of tourists, chatting about the scuba diving trip we had taken earlier. I was sitting with my back to the Al Capone and suddenly I heard a massive explosion. I was sure it was a gas balloon, but when I turned around and saw the blaze I understood – it was a terror attack. Flames were rising to the sky, people screaming and running. Within seconds there was another explosion, and seconds later, a third,” Muhammad related.

Security guard in Dahab. Quite alert (Photo: Yaron Brenner, Dahab)

According to Muhammad, the number of casualties could have been much higher. Dahab, he explains, is well-know for its scuba diving and most guests stay in the water until the evening hours, when they retire to their rooms to rest, then return to the coffee houses and restaurants at a relatively late hour.

“Thank god this is the habit here in Dahab, because otherwise the number of casualties could have been much higher,” he said. “I’m trying to imagine, and I can’t, the trap of fire that terrorists wanted to set here. We didn’t know whether to evacuate the wounded or to run away ourselves, but we were determined to help the victims,” he added, referring to the multiple blasts.

Most of the businesses in Dahab offering scuba diving packages and therefore employees are obligated to be certified in first aid, which was useful during the rescue and treatment operations last night.

“Because of our knowledge of first aid, I can say that we dealt with the casualty situation quickly and efficiently,” Muhammad said. “The ambulance arrived within ten minutes of the blasts. Fifteen minutes later all the wounded were evacuated, and then what happened began to sink in.”

Muhammad stands on a bridge by the beach. For a moment he looks out over the sea, but he can’t detach himself but the reality that has forced itself on him.

“We have a friend, a taxi driver that drives our customers to the scuba diving sites. He was wounded and we’re praying he’ll be okay. Whoever did this couldn’t have been Egyptian, Bedouin, and definitely not Muslim. People with no conscience did this thing, people that have no connection to religion,” he added.

Many Egyptians were in the Dahab area Monday as it was their spring break. Local tourists arrive from Cairo and Alexandria at this time of year to scuba dive and vacation here, and therefore a relatively high number of the victims were Egyptian.

Dahab bazaar (Photo: Yaron Brenner, Dahab)

“I will tell you something surprising,” Muhammad said. “Those that have already left Dahab (after the attack) are the Egyptians that aren’t used to such things. But the Russians, the English, the Spanish, they are used to it and understand because they have terrorism in their own countries also. They didn’t leave. On the contrary, they helped us clear the wounded and this morning they came to ask whether we needed help.”

Muhammad, like many other business owners in Dahab, is an Egyptian citizen from elsewhere the country, but he says he isn’t planning to leave.

“I am originally from Suez, and my family is pressuring me to return. But my business, my life is here. Here my guests and my friends were wounded. We won’t leave and we’ll return to normal life as quickly as possible,” he said.

'It’s safer here than anywhere in the world'

A security official touring the scene this morning, armed but dressed in civilian clothes, said that police and security forces had had general warnings, as there are in all of Sinai lately. But no one expected that Dahab, of all places, which is less crowded with tourists than other destinations on the Egyptian peninsula, would be targeted y terrorists.

“The government and the Rais (Hosni Mubarak) made a clear stand – not to let these people escape the law,” he said. “I have no doubt that we’ll find them sooner or later."

"As you can see, every terror attack here is weaker and less destructive than the one before it. Our message is that we, the security forces, are doing everything to ensure the security of tourists. I promise them that it is safer here than anywhere else in the world,” he added.

In the early morning hours, a truck from Egypt’s Civilian Defense unit drove up carrying five dogs, who sniffed out the area where the blasts occurred.

One can tell that forces here are on alert, but on the drive from the Taba crossing to Dahab, it was hard to identify any particular behaviors on the part of the Egyptian police and soldiers. The checkpoints were not manned by a larger number of forces than usual, and the guards themselves, unlike in other attacks such as the recent one in Sharm al-Sheik, showed more patience towards the media and tourists.

Have the Egyptians gotten used to terrorism? If you rely on what the locals say, there certainly is no threat of indifference taking over here, and the ones who really need to worry are those responsible for what happened here Monday.