CAIRO: At least 20 people were killed and almost 50 injured when an explosives-filled car crashed into other vehicles in central Cairo.
The car was to be used in a "terrorist operation" and had been prepared by the Hasm militant group, an affiliate of the Muslim brotherhood, the interior ministry said Monday.
The explosion took place outside Egypt’s National Cancer Institute after a car collided with three other vehicles as it drove against traffic on Cairo’s corniche.
The interior ministry said a technical inspection indicated "an amount of explosives was inside the car, which caused it to explode when it collided."
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi described the blast as a "terrorist incident". In a social media post, he offered his condolences to the victims' families and the Egyptian people.
Saudi Arabia condemend the incident and said it stodd with Egypt in the fight against terrorism.
A report by news site almasryalyoum.com said the car explosion, which happened in front of the Institute, shattered the school's main façade. The report said several cars parked in front of the institute were burned, and patients, doctors and workers were evacuated from inside the building.
"Patients and their families lined the sidewalk in front of the Institute in light of the lack of ambulances to transport them to hospitals, prompting a number of residents of the area to transport the injured in their own cars," said the report.
Traffic enforcers closed the streets leading to the blast site, it said.
A video posted on Twitter by the same news site showed firetrucks and ambulances all over the disaster area.
*With AFP
