CAIRO : Eight foreigners were among at least 88 people killed in multiple bombings in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday, Egyptian police said.

Two Britons, two Italians, one Ukrainian, one Russian, one Dutch citizen and one Israeli of Arab descent died, the sources told AFP.

Egyptians were believed to have taken the brunt of the blasts with medics putting the overall death toll at 88.

Police said 30 bodies still had to be identified.

A group linked to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement whose authenticity could not be verified.

At least three consecutive explosions went off shortly after 1:00 am (2200 GMT Friday).

One of them destroyed the Ghazala Garden hotel on the resort's main stretch, another detonated in a car park and a third bomb ripped through the town's old market, police and witnesses said. - AFP/de