A roadside bomb has hit a tourist bus near the Giza pyramids, Egyptian officials have said. The blast on Sunday wounded at least 17 people, including tourists, officials confirmed. The officials said the bus was travelling on a road close to the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is under construction and located adjacent to the Giza pyramids. It is not yet open to tourists. The bus was carrying at least 25 people, mostly from South Africa, officials added.
Security forces cordoned off the site of the explosion and the wounded were taken to a nearby hospital, they said. Officials reported the explosion damaging the windshield of another car. Footage circulated online showed shattered windows on the bus.
In a statement issued by the antiquities ministry, Atif Moftah, general supervisor of the Grand Egyptian Museum, confirmed the explosion had not caused any damage to the site. No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Egypt has battled Islamic militants for years in the Sinai Peninsula in an insurgency that has occasionally spilled over to the mainland, hitting minority Christians or tourists. 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 is the second to target foreign tourists near the famed pyramids in less than six months. In December, a bus carrying 15 Vietnamese tourists was hit by a roadside bomb, killing at least three of them. AP