3 Qatari diplomats die in car crash while heading to Sharm el-Sheikh summit

Three Qatari diplomats were killed in a car crash Saturday while heading to Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, health officials said.

 

Two other diplomats were injured when their vehicle overturned about 50 kilometres (31 miles) from Sharm el-Sheikh, the officials said.

 

The diplomats, who were from the Qatari protocol team, were travelling to the city ahead of a high-level summit celebrating a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief media.

 

Qatar mediated the ceasefire along with Egypt and the US. Turkey also joined the negotiations earlier this month in Sharm el-Sheikh, which was capped by a ceasefire and the release of hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

 

Sharm el-Sheikh will host the summit to be co-chaired by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt and US President Donald Trump, according to a statement from the Egyptian presidency.

 

The statement said more than two dozen world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, will attend the summit.