A roadside bomb hit a tourist bus Friday in an area near the Giza pyramids, killing two Vietnamese tourists and an Egyptian tour guide and wounding 11 other people, Egypt’s Interior Ministry said in a statement. It said the bus was traveling in the Marioutiyah area near the pyramids when the crude device, concealed by a wall, went off.
Ten Vietnamese tourists and the Egyptian bus driver were wounded.
The bus was carrying a total of 14 Vietnamese tourists, the ministry added, saying only two of them escaped unharmed.
Egypt has battled Islamist militants for years in the Sinai Peninsula in an insurgency that has occasionally spilled over to the mainland, hitting minority Christians or tourists. However, this is the first attack to target foreign tourists in almost two years.
The attack comes as Egypt’s vital tourism industry is showing signs of recovery after years in the doldrums because of the political turmoil and violence that followed a 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Hosni Mubarak.
It will likely prompt authorities to further tighten security around churches and associated facilities ahead of the New Year’s Eve celebrations and next month’s Christmas celebrations of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
AP
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