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Explosion in Egyptian capital Cairo leaves 17 dead, over 30 wounded - Al Arabiya

The blast followed a traffic accident

MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/. At least 17 people were killed and 32 more wounded in a blast following a traffic accident in downtown of the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Monday, Al Arabiya reported on Monday.

Al Arabiya cited the Egyptian Health Ministry as saying that "Seventeen people have died and 32 have been injured in an explosion outside Egypt's National Cancer Institute in central Cairo."

Egypt’s local news web portal Egyptian Streets reported earlier in the day that 16 people died and 21 sustained wounds in the explosion following a collision of several vehicles outside Cairo’s Cancer Institute. The explosion also caused damages to facilities inside the Institute.

"A preliminary statement released by the Ministry of Interior says that the explosion occurred shortly before midnight and was caused by a vehicle driving outside the Institute in the opposite direction before colliding with up to three other vehicles," Egyptian Streets reported.

The staff and patients of the Cancer Institute were immediately evacuated after the incident and the Egyptian Prosecutor General ordered to launch an urgent investigation dispatching a team of investigators to the scene.