The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)

Tourists stabbed to death at beach resort

Knifeman kills two German women and injures four other people

- STEWART ALEXANDER

Two German tourists have been killed in stabbings at a hotel beach in the popular Red Sea resort of Hurghada, Egyptian officials say.

At least four other people were injured and a man has been arrested.

The suspect is being questioned by police to determine his motives, the interior ministry said.

The knifeman initially killed the two women before injuring two other tourists at the Zahabia hotel, officials told Reuters news agency.

He then swam to a nearby beach and attacked and wounded two more people at the Sunny Days El Palacio resort before he was overpowere­d by staff and arrested.

“He had a knife with him and stabbed each of them three times in the chest. They died on the beach,” El Palacio hotel security manager Saud Abdelaziz said.

Mr Abdelaziz said the injured include two Czechs and two Armenians. All are now being treated in hospital.

The attacker’s motive was still under investigat­ion, the interior ministry said.

“He was looking for foreigners and he didn’t want any Egyptians,” a member of staff at the Zahabia hotel said.

Three foreign tourists were stabbed at the same resort, renowned for its scuba diving, in January 2016 by two suspected militants from the Islamic State (IS) group.

It is unclear whether the attacker had any links to jihadist groups or whether he was psychologi­cally disturbed, officials said.

Egypt’s security forces are dealing with an Islamist uprising in the country’s Sinai Peninsula. The tourist industry has been targeted by militants in North Africa over the past few years.

He was looking for foreigners and he didn’t want any Egyptians

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