Remarkably resilient Sharm
Dena Rashed and Reem Nafie find Sharm El-Sheikh holidaymakers grief-stricken as they resume their vacations
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Remains of the doomed aircraft; search and rescue teams at work; cordoning off the oil leak caused by the crash; holiday makers resume their vacations; life goes on
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The plane crash that killed 145 holidaymakers off the coast of Sharm El-Sheikh this week may not have left holidaymakers grieving too noisily. It almost certainly did leave them gazing apprehensively as planes flew overhead, leaving the tourist resort along the same route as the fated aircraft. News of the crash on Saturday did not stop the inflow of winter tourists, who could be seen tanning and strolling down the path alongside Na'ma Bay as the bars and discos prepared for the busy night ahead. Many had been taking an early- morning dive at the bay just as the accident took place, not far from the site of the crash.
The Mejer family were among these. "We knew about the crash later on the same day," Ann Mejer recounted. "The thought that it might be a terrorist attack did cross our minds, but it did not seem very likely." Ann and her husband, Arne Mejer, both agree that, were it really such an attack, the tragedy would have impacted on tourism. As it is, though, everyone knows that "plane crashes happen all over the world," they said. "It is a terrible accident, but last week we felt equally bad about those who died after the earthquake in Iran," Ann added.
As the small Danish family awaited lunch in one of Na'ma Bay's beach restaurants, Arne noted that "business is business. In Sharm El-Sheikh people's lives depend on tourism," he said, "so people had to move on very quickly." Holidaying these days, he argued, is "a matter of calculated risk". One might add that it is a risk frequently taken: the Mejers are on their third diving sojourn in Sharm El- Sheikh, another 10 days of sun and sea spray. The crash did interrupt their vacation in one sense, however: diving in Na'ma Bay was transferred to Ras Mohamed to allow the search and rescue teams to do their work.
Ann, for one affected party, was perfectly content with the alternative plans provided for diving trips. "I was amazed at how fast they transferred all the diving trips to Ras Mohamed," she said, "which has equally beautiful marine life. The authorities managed to let people go on with their holidays as if nothing had happened."
Minor problems did result nonetheless. "It took us an hour and half to get on the boat the second day of the crash," James Shanks, a South African tourist, complained. "But it's okay. We understand the circumstances," he added. First-time visitors to Sharm El-Sheikh, Shanks and Norman Forbes, his companion at another beach restaurant, found the city "an amazing place to be on vacation. We have been here since 27 December," Forbes said, "and in spite of how awful we feel about people dying in the plane crash, we've had a wonderful time."
Likewise Peter Havik, a Dutch diving instructor, believes that holidaymakers will not interrupt their plans because, he said, "they know crashes happen all over the world." Those working in tourism have witnessed worse setbacks, he pointed out. "They went through a very bad patch during the second Gulf War, for example. But life goes on -- especially in a tourist city like Sharm El-Sheikh."
Though diving schedules were not altered in the city, Deborah Garbi, a diving centre attendant, claimed that some of those who resumed their courses near the site of the crash ran into the dismembered bodies of the victims. "The currents change very rapidly in the area where the plane crashed, so it is not very surprising that this should have happened," Heinz Justrich, the head of a diving centre at a five- star hotel who assisted the search and rescue teams, explained.
Sadly it may be that more permanent damage will affect future dives, however. Speaking on conditions of anonymity, a local official told Al-Ahram Weekly the plane crash resulted in an oil leak near Ras Mohamed National Park. "It's a terrible problem," he said, "though we're doing our best to prevent the leak from spreading further," he said. Oil could be seen on the surface in the area of Ras Nosrani. Cleaning activities in the coral reefs and some beaches started last Monday, it was reported, when the leak became apparent. "It is winter," the source added, "and the currents are strong; that's why the oil reached the shore."
For his part Essam Saadallah, the head of the national park, denied the presence of any oil. "We were on the site just now," he reassured the Weekly. "And the water is perfectly clear."
In Na'ma Bay life went on as usual. At one of the bay's tourist information centres, Osama Samir, who has been working in Sharm El-Sheikh for six years, points out that all trips were on time. "We were worried after we heard about the crash, and so were many tourists who came to request information. But things went on smoothly," Samir said. Sharm El-Sheikh would seem to be among the most resilient tourist outposts in the region, after all. "The city witnessed a drop in tourism in 1992 after the Luxor terrorist attack. But since then, even war in the Middle East has not managed to undermine the boom in tourism. Again and again, Sharm proves to be a safe place to be," Samir said.
Airport reports corroborate Samir's claims. This week the Ministry of Aviation announced that EgyptAir flew 100,000 passengers of different nationalities via 33 international and 20 internal flights to several destinations including Sharm El-Sheikh. No flights scheduled to arrive in or depart from Egypt were cancelled. Even Flash Airlines flights went ahead. According to Wahid Fayez, the administrator in charge of transportation in the Sharm El-Sheikh branch of Flash Tours, only delays resulted from the crash. "No flights were cancelled. We did rent planes that do not have the company name on them," he confessed, "to make people more comfortable during their trips."
The crash is Sharm El-Sheikh's first major accident, and during a well deserved break in the marine search and rescue team office, Hamdy Sami, the leader of the team, pointed out that it was the first true test of the emergency plan the team had come up with. "We signed a protocol with the airport regarding how to react if a crash occurred," Sami told the Weekly, "and we acted as stipulated." So far, Sami believes, the team has demonstrated that the city is equipped with both the skill and facilities to make crisis management a viable procedure.
"In less than half an hour," he said, "15 boats were on their way to the site of the crash in a first-time operation, and they were followed shortly by ships from the navy and air-force aeroplanes and helicopters. The team, which has been in action for three years, caters to the area from the Straight of Gobal in the Gulf of Aqaba to the Straight of Suez. Each unit consists of three rescue people -- pilot, rescuer and rescue leader. Sami added that the team was well equipped for its task.
On the night of the crash, Red Sea governor Mostafa Afifi asserted that the city was well prepared. "The hospital is ready, so are the planes which will bring in the families of the victims. We have also reserved 300 rooms to accommodate them," he said. Though there were no survivors in this instance, Ezzat Abdel- Hafez, general manager of the Sharm El-Sheikh International Hospital, likewise reassured the Weekly that the hospital provides for "a major disaster plan" that could have been smoothly implemented. "The same plan, which is intended for accidents that involve 50 or more people, proved successful when 68 Kafr Al- Dawwar Youth Centre members were injured in a bus accident," Abdel-Hafez explained, "and in several other instances."
The best equipped hospital in South Sinai, Sharm El-Sheikh International, boasts 150 beds, a 24-bed emergency room, and 60 doctors available on call -- among other facilities. "Our doctors are fully accommodated within the hospital itself, which means that they are always available at any time," Abdel-Hafez explained. In addition, the Ministry of Health will send in more personnel during the high seasons.
As they resumed their holidays on Sunday, tourists could not help being aware that, while they enjoyed snorkeling or danced away the night, the body parts of 145 French casualties were awaiting DNA tests in a morgue set up for the purpose. And notwithstanding Sharm El- Sheikh's remarkable resilience as a tourist outpost -- or its crisis-management facilities -- the shadows of the dead will likely haunt its sunny beaches for many years to come. One remark made in passing by Shanks, the aforementioned South African tourist, is particularly telling: "We met some French people who were due to leave Sharm El-Sheikh soon after we arrived, and we don't know their full names. It is sad that we will never know if they arrived home safely."
