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Explosion in Egypt Injures 16 People Near Giza Pyramids

Explosion in Egypt Injures 16 Near Pyramids, Ministry Says

(Bloomberg) -- At least 16 people were wounded in a roadside bombing targeting a tour bus near Egypt’s Giza pyramids, the latest attack on the North African nation’s crucial tourism industry.

Some of the casualties were South African nationals, according to Mohammed El-Saghir, head of police investigations in Giza’s al-Haram district. The blast occurred in front of a museum that’s under construction, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Explosion in Egypt Injures 16 People Near Giza Pyramids

The explosion near Egypt’s trademark ancient site came as authorities tout a revival of tourism, a key foreign-exchange generator that struggled in the aftermath of the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak. It also highlights the challenge faced by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi as he vows to crush militants based in North Sinai who’ve carried out attacks far beyond the peninsula.

In the worst single attack on tourists, an Islamic State affiliate in late 2015 downed a Russian charter flight leaving the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, killing all 224 people on board.

Last December, three Vietnamese tourists and a local guide were killed by a roadside blast in an area of greater Cairo close to the site of Sunday’s explosion.

--With assistance from Samer Khalil Al-Atrush.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ahmed Khalil El-Sayed in Cairo at akhalilelsay@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Michael Gunn

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.