| Egyptian soldiers surround site where two women opened fire at tour bus in Cairo, Saturday |
Militants carried out two attacks in Cairo on Saturday, both near major tourist attractions. Authorities say the three attackers were killed and several people were injured. The attacks appear to be related to another bombing that took place three weeks ago.
Several people were injured when the suicide bomber blew himself up in downtown Cairo, in a busy intersection next to the Egyptian Museum.
The bomber's body lay in a pool of blood on the sidewalk, covered by a blanket. Egyptian security officials identified him as Ihab Youssry Yassin, according to his identity card.
They also say they found the identity card of Raafat Al-Bashandi on the bomber's body. Al Bashandi is the 18-year-old authorities say carried out a suicide bombing in the Al Azhar tourist area three weeks ago, which killed two French citizens and an American. The man killed Saturday, according to Egyptian authorities, was wanted in connection with that earlier attack.
These two young men said they were within 30 meters of the blast.
"There was a very loud noise and a lot of smoke," one man said. His friend said he thought it was a nail bomb, because he saw people who had been injured by flying nails running away from the site of the blast.
Egyptian authorities said the wounded included three Egyptians, an Israeli couple, an Italian woman and a Swedish man.
Police set up a safety perimeter around the Egyptian museum, and limited access to the area.
British tourist Colin Wilson was at the museum when the explosion took place.
"We were sitting in the gardens of the Egyptian Museum when it actually went off," said Colin Wilson. "I think they handled it really well, actually. The guards pulled us into the building, and obviously made the area secure."
The suicide attack at the museum took place at about 3:30 pm local time. An hour later, two women opened fire on a tourist bus. The attack took place on the side of a busy road within sight of The Citadel, another one of Egypt's main tourist attractions.
Egypt's Interior Ministry says both women died after firing on the bus.
An Interior Ministry statement said the two women were related to the suicide bomber in the earlier attack.
