CAIRO – Three Vietnamese tourists and an Egyptian guide were killed and at least 10 others injured when a roadside bomb blast hit their tour bus on Friday less than 4 km (2.5 miles) from Egypt’s world-famous Giza pyramids, authorities said.
The bombing is the first deadly attack against foreign tourists in Egypt for over a year and comes as the tourism sector, a vital source of foreign currency revenue, recovers from a sharp drop in visitor numbers since the country’s 2011 uprising.
No immediate claim of responsibility was reported.
Islamist extremists, including militants linked to Islamic State, are active in Egypt and have targeted foreign visitors in the past.
At least nine Vietnamese tourists were wounded, as well as the Egyptian driver, according to official statements.
The tourists were heading to a sound and light show at the pyramids, which they had visited earlier in the day, said Lan Le, 41, who was also aboard the bus but unhurt.
“We were going to the sound and light show and then suddenly we heard a bomb. It was terrible, people screaming,” she told Reuters, speaking at Al Haram hospital, where the injured were taken. “I don’t remember anything after.”
Egypt’s interior ministry said the bus was hit by an explosion from an improvised device hidden near a wall at around 6.15 p.m. (1615 GMT).
About two hours later, the vehicle could be seen behind a police cordon with one of its sides badly damaged and the windows blown out, a Reuters reporter said.
The interior ministry confirmed the death of two of the tourists, and the state prosecutor’s office later said a third had died. In total, 14 Vietnamese tourists had been traveling on the bus, it said.
Vietnam called on Egypt to find those behind the attack.
“Vietnam is extremely angered by and strongly condemns this act of terrorism that killed and injured innocent Vietnamese people,” foreign ministry spokeswoman, Le Thi Thu Hang, said in a statement. (Reuters)
