Cairo : At least 10 people, including six policemen, were injured in a blast Wednesday afternoon outside the main gate of Cairo University in Egypt’s Giza province, an interior ministry statement said.
“The explosion took place at Nahda Square opposite to Cairo University and six policemen and four civilians were injured and taken to hospitals for treatment,” Xinhua quoted the statement as saying.
Mohamed Sultan, the health ministry’s head of emergency care unit, said six people were injured in the explosion and they were transferred to nearby hospitals.
“Six were injured in the blast; three policemen and three civilians. Five were taken to Qasr al-Aini Hospital and one to Agouza Hospital,” the official told Xinhua.
The interior ministry earlier said that the police arrested 12 students from different universities over reports of their intention to gather and stage anti-government protests at Cairo University.
As the academic session in Egypt has just started a couple of weeks ago, Egyptian universities intensified security presence in anticipation of protests by students, particularly those by supporters of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi who was ousted by the military in July 2013 following mass protests against his one-year rule.