A bomb explosion in a popular tourist area of the Egyptian capital Cairo on Sunday killed at least four people, including two foreigners, security sources said.More on yesterday's story...
The bomb blast hit a cafe in the al-Hussein Square near the Khan al-Khaili market, wouding at least 20 people, National Democratic Party MP Talaat Mutawi told AlArabiya.net. One of the foreigners killed was French while a German tourist was badly injured, but the nationality of the other foreigner was not immediately clear.
Three Egyptians, two Germans and two Spaniards were among those injured when the explosion struck near the historic Khan al-Khalili market in eastern Cairo, popular with tourists who shop for trinkets and sit at outdoor coffee shops overlooking an historic mosque.
" It was huge, I could hear glass shattering "Witness |
Witnesses heard the explosion at 6:30 p.m. (18:30 GMT). One taxi driver told AlArabiya.net he heard a loud explosion and a few minutes after he drove by the scene.
"I was driving by al Hussein and al Azhar when I heard the explosion. A few minutes after people started running out like mad and I saw a police officer who waved at me and asked me to load four injured tourists who turned out to be Spanish. They were bleeding in the face. I drove them straight to the al Qasr al Eyni hospital," Ahmed Saleh, 42 told AlArabiya.net.
It was not clear who was behind the attack or if the tourists had been deliberately targeted, although Islamic militants have hit the country's tourist industry in recent decades through bomb and shooting attacks.