Bomber hurt after device explodes

A BOMBER was seriously hurt yesterday when an explosive device - believed to have been intended for tourist shops near the famous pyramids of Giza - blew up, police said.

The man carrying the device was severely injured. The incident came amid heightened fears of attacks on tourists in Egypt after the string of bombings in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, 402 kilometres east of the capital, that killed 88 people. Security was increased in many parts of Cairo, including around the pyramids, after the deadliest terrorist attacks in the nation’s history.

Investigators were trying to determine whether the man, identified as Sami Gamal Ahmad, 33, was taking the explosive to the nearby tourist area of Kerdassa, a bazaar of souvenir shops near the pyramids, a senior security official said.

The device, which the man was carrying in a sack, apparently went off accidentally in the neighbourhood of Kufr Tuhurmus, several kilometres from Kerdassa, the official said.

Ahmad, who works at a downtown hospital, was too badly injured to be interrogated, the official said.

Initial reports said the blast went off in Ahmad’s home. The Interior Ministry earlier put out a statement saying the explosion hit his ground-floor apartment, where he may have been storing “leftover” explosive material.