Egyptian hotel sued over absence of security in 2004 attack
Friday, December 11, 2009 E-Mail this story Free Headline Alerts
JERUSALEM Ñ The families of victims have sued an Egyptian hotel complex hit by an Al Qaida bombing in 2004.
The lawsuit against Hilton Hotels Corp., which calls for 70 million shekel, or about $20 million, was filed in a Jerusalem court in connection with a bombing that killed 33 people in Taba, Egypt. About 100 plaintiffs filed the suit in Israel after a failed lawsuit in the United States against Hilton.
"On the day the attack took place, not a single security person was guarding the entrance to the hotel," the 70-page suit, filed on Dec. 1, read. "A lone terrorist was able to cause so much damage simply because no precautions were taken."
The Hilton Hotel in Taba was destroyed by a suicide attacker who drove a car loaded with explosives into the lobby of the hotel. The car, with an estimated 500 kilograms of explosives, was detonated in the entrance of the 410-room hotel and casino.
The suit was filed against the Hilton organization in Israel. The company owns a chain of hotels in the Jewish state.
The plaintiffs, represented by Israeli attorney Moshe Zingel, asserted that Hilton Taba was warned of the prospect of an insurgency attack. But the hotel was said to have failed to take adequate measures to protect the guests, many of them Israelis on vacation.
"The defendant left the security arrangements to the hands of the local Egyptian workers," the suit read. "Therefore the security procedures remained at the local level, without feedback and supervision from the parent company in the United States."
Zingel said the Taba hotel did not have a single security guard at the entrance. Since the bombing, the Hilton established rings of security as well as installed cameras around the complex.
In 2007, a U.S. federal judge dismissed a suit against the Hilton organization. Judge Peter Leisure said the plaintiffs were not connected to the United States, and suggested that Egypt and Israel would be a better venue for a trial.
"We hope the case will be heard in the next couple of months," Zingel said.