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3 South Koreans killed in bomb attack in Egypt

February 17, 2014

An image made from a video provided by the Israeli Airports Authority shows smoke, white area at upper right,. from the bombing of the bus carrying South Korean sightseers near the tip of the Red Sea’s Gulf of Aqaba Sunday Feb. 16, 2014. At least three South Korean tourists were killed and 12 seriously wounded, according to Egyptian security officials. (AP Photo/Israeli Airports Authority)

(Yonhap) — A bomb attack on a tourist bus in Egypt has killed three South Koreans, along with one Egyptian, and injured 14 others, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Monday.

The bus, carrying 31 South Korean churchgoers and two Korean and one Egyptian tour guide, was hit by the suspected suicide attack in the small Egyptian town of Taba on the Sinai Peninsula on Sunday, as it was preparing to cross into Israel, according to the ministry.

The blast killed one South Korean female tourist and the two Korean tour guides on board, along with the Egyptian driver, the ministry said, adding that 14 other Koreans were taken to nearby hospitals with injuries, which are “not life-threatening.”

The team of tourists from South Korea’s central city of Jincheon has been on a 12 day-long three-nation pilgrimage since last week to Turkey, Egypt and Israel, according to officials of Jincheon Central Presbyterian Church.

It is one of the most frequently visited travel courses by South Korea’s believers, they added.

“A man presumed to be in his 20s threw a bomb into the vehicle, according to survivors. But no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, and it was not clear if South Koreans were specifically targeted in the explosion,” said Seoul’s foreign ministry official in charge of dealing with consular affairs.

Sunday’s attack, which took place in Egypt’s busiest border crossing with neighboring Israel, was one of the bloodiest in nearly a decade in the region, according to officials. The Sinai Peninsula has become increasingly lawless since President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in 2011.

“The region has seen militants’ attacks against the government, but a terror attack against civilians as in this case is unprecedented, which causes concern,” the official added.

South Korea condemned the deadly attack and vowed to do everything to fight terrorism. To assess the situation and deal with it, the Seoul government immediately dispatched several officials to the site, including two from Seoul, with President Park Geun-hye instructing officials to “do everything to take the best care of the victims.”

The ministry also issued a special travel advisory for the peninsula, calling on its people to immediately withdraw from the region and not to visit there.

The United Nations Security Council issued a statement condemning the deadly attack “in the strongest terms,” stressing the need to punish those responsible for it.