Three held over Cape Town blast

MEMBERS OF A Muslim vigilante group were being questioned by police last night over the bombing of Cape Town's Planet Hollywood restaurant that killed one diner and injured 27 others.

Two women and one man were stopped as they tried to board an international flight at Cape Town airport, said South African police. They all belong to People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad), a Muslim group blamed for a string of blasts across the country.

Pagad later said the trio had been on a pilgrimage when they were seized. The South African Press Association was told the man had been heading for Egypt.

Five members of the British family caught in Tuesday's blast have undergone further treatment. Laura Giddings was told that her foot would have to be amputated, but the eight-year-old ballet fan was still too sedated to understand. Her brother Jacob, three, has had shrapnel removed from his spine, but still has metal in his kidneys.

Their father, Tony, 38, has had part of his foot amputated, and is more seriously hurt than first thought. He is expected to need six more operations.