Tourists arriving in Britain in the mass exodus from Egypt told last night of the horror and the fear as Luxor "turned from a stunning resort to a battleground". UK tour operators were bringing holidaymakers home from Egypt, including many who were close the spot where 58 tourists were massacred. Some told how they had to hide for hours in one of the ancient tombs as they listened to the gunfire. One tourist described the distress of a man whose girlfriend was shot dead in front of him.
Mr Terry O'Brien (71), from Limerick, said: "It was a very grim atmosphere in Luxor, most people felt very scared and upset. It turned from a stunning resort to a battleground and none of us knew what was happening, it was all so confusing."
Ms Iris Christlow (54), from Bridlington, Yorkshire, said she watched from a taxi in the Valley of the Queens as a man in traditional Arab dress pulled a gun from beneath his clothes only yards from her cab. She described the experience as "terrifying".
Ms Christlow said she and her friend were taken to a nearby factory for their safety. They remained there for two hours before returning to their hotel.
Another tourist described what he saw of the massacre during a visit to the Valley of the Kings. Mr Lloyd Bolton (24), from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, said he had been inside a tomb and when he came out he heard shouting come from the top of a mountain.
"We could see men with guns coming down from the top of the mountain. We also heard gunshots but we didn't really know what was happening. We were told to go to a nearby cafeteria where we stayed for about an hour. It was a frightening experience."
Egyptians too were shocked by the massacre which took place outside the Hatshepsut temple in Luxor. The attack, in which four Egyptians were also killed, was the bloodiest assault on tourists since Islamists took up arms in 1992 to overthrow the government of the President, Mr Hosni Mubarak.
Ms Azza Abdel-Naby (27), a nurse, said: "They have to put an end to this. They should take a terrorist in a public square and cut him up into tiny pieces to set an example." Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group), Egypt's largest militant group, yesterday claimed responsibility for the attack. It said that one of its units had tried to take tourists hostage at Hatshepsut temple, adding that four of its 15 members had been killed and two captured.
Sixty-six men charged with Islamic militancy went on trial at an army court on Monday as suspected Islamists were killing tourists at Luxor. The trial of the 66 opened at an army base 20 km west of Cairo at about the same time as six militants were gunning down tourists in the ruins of Luxor. They pleaded not guilty to charges that included plotting to kill state officials and belonging to Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya.