Text of report by Egyptian radio

President Husni Mubarak is closely following the criminal incident that occurred in the archaeological area in Luxor this morning.

Prime Minister Kamal al-Janzuri will hold a ministerial meeting shortly to follow up on the developments of the criminal, heinous incident, Information Minister Safwat al-Sharif stated.

A responsible security source in the Interior Ministry said today that a police force succeeded in killing all six members of the criminal group, which opened fire on tourists at an archaeological area on the west bank in Luxor.

He added that the police force clashed with the gunmen, killing one and chasing the others, who fled, and encircling them in the Dayr al-Muharib, where a clash ensued during which the five gunmen were killed.

The source added that the death toll of the criminal incident totalled 60 Egyptians and foreigners and nine Egyptians and 11 foreigners were wounded. All casualties were taken to the Luxor General Hospital and the number of dead is being counted.

Interior Minister Maj-Gen Hasan al-Alfi went to Luxor as soon as he heard the news of the criminal incident to head the security team that is supervising the situation and conducting the investigation.

Health Minister Dr Isma'il Sallam left for Luxor to follow up on transfer of the wounded to the hospital for treatment.

A medically-equipped helicopter was sent to Luxor as soon as the incident occurred to transfer the casualties to hospitals.

Source: Arab Republic of Egypt Radio, Cairo, in Arabic 1230 gmt 17 Nov 97

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.
 

Back to top | BBC News Home | BBC Homepage	©