Blast hits Egypt tourist bus, 17 injured: security, medical sources
An explosion struck a
tourist bus on Sunday near Egypt's famed pyramids, injuring 17 people including
foreigners, security and medical sources said.
South Africans and
Egyptians were among those injured when an explosive device went off, hitting
the bus in Giza, according to the sources. No deaths were reported.
Images circulating
online showed some of the bus' windows shattered.
Sunday's incident
comes after three Vietnamese holidaymakers and their Egyptian guide were killed
when a roadside bomb hit their bus as it travelled near the pyramids outside
Cairo in December.
Egypt's tourism sector
has suffered for years due to a series of deadly attacks targeting
holidaymakers following the turmoil of the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime
ruler Hosni Mubarak.
Authorities have gone
to great lengths to lure tourists back, touting a series of archaeological
finds and a new museum next to the pyramids, as well as enhanced security at
airports and around ancient sites.
The industry has
slowly picked up, with tourist arrivals reaching 8.3 million in 2017, compared
with 5.3 million the previous year, official statistics showed.
But that figure was
still far short of the record influx of 2010 when more than 14 million visitors
flocked to see the country's sites.