Deadly blast hits tour bus near Giza pyramids in Egypt - BBC News

A roadside blast has killed two Vietnamese tourists and injured 12 other people on a bus near the Giza pyramids in Egypt, the Egyptian ministry of interior says.

A bomb hidden beside a wall went off as the bus carrying 14 Vietnamese tourists was passing, it adds.

Two Egyptians, including the bus driver, are among the injured, according to the ministry.

There were no immediate reports of any group saying it was behind the attack.

But Islamist militants have targeted tourists in the past.

• Country profile

Two German tourists were stabbed to death at a hotel in the popular Red Sea resort of Hurghada last year.

Tourism is a mainstay of the economy.

What do we know of Friday's attack?

The bomb went off at about 18:15 (16:45 GMT) on Maryoutiya Street in Giza's Haram district, the interior ministry says.

Security forces rushed to the scene in response and police are investigating.

How has tourism fared in Egypt in recent years?

It peaked in 2010, when the country saw more than 14 million visitors, but fell sharply after the turmoil of the Arab Spring the following year.

Worse was to come after militants bombed a Russian passenger jet in 2015 as it left Sharm el Sheikh, killing 224 people.

The following year just 5.3 million tourists visited, according to the World Bank.

However, the sector has since recovered and 8.3 million people visited in 2017, the Financial Times reports.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told visiting Vietnamese leaders in May that he was keen to revive Vietnamese tourism in his country, according to Egypt Today.

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