Sharm El-Sheikh (AsiaNews/Agencies)  At least 65 people died and 200 were wounded when car bombs ripped through a bazaar and tourist hotels in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday in Egypt's worst attack in nearly a decade. Officials fear the death toll could rise further, as many of the injured were seriously hurt.

Police say there were up to seven almost simultaneous bomb attacks on the popular Sinai resort, at the peak of the tourist season. Shaken European tourists spoke of mass panic and hysteria as people fled the carnage, with bodies strewn across the roads, people screaming and sirens wailing.  

One blast tore the front off the Ghazala Gardens Hotel in Naama Bay, the site of most of the resort's luxury hotels, where people were feared trapped in the rubble. A car broke into the hotel compound and exploded in front of the building.

Britons, French, Spaniards, Dutch, Qataris, Kuwaitis and Egyptians were among the dead and wounded, police sources said. The wounded included 13 Italians, five Britons, three Spaniards, three Saudis, a Ukrainian, a Russian, a Turk and an Israeli Arab, spokeswoman Hala el-Khatib said.

The first explosion hit the old market in Sharm el-Sheikh town shortly after 1 a.m. (2200 GMT), filling the air with fire and smoke, residents said.  A rescue official said many wounded were Egyptian workers gathered at a cafe in the old market. Seventeen of the dead were burnt beyond recognition.

"What happened early this morning is rejected by all people. These criminal gangs will not be able to prevent people from travelling and moving," Egyptian Tourism Minister Ahmed el-Maghrabi told Egyptian television, but he said: "These incidents will have an effect in the short term (on tourism)."

Foreigners have been targeted in Egypt in earlier attacks carried otu by fundamentalists and terrorists. Three tourists were killed and others wounded in two bombings in the Egyptian capital Cairo in April. In October, 34 people were killed by car and truck bombs at resorts popular with Israelis, mostly at the Taba Hilton on the Israeli border. Those attacks were further north, on the eastern coast of the Sinai Peninsula closer to Israel. In 1997,  58 tourists were killed in the town of Luxor.

Tourism is a major source of revenues and employment in Egypt, which needs to create about 650,000 jobs a year for its youthful population. Some analysts say Egypt attracted extra visitors this year after many avoided tsunami-hit Asia.