At least one killed by blast at Italian Consulate in Cairo

A large explosion struck the Italian Consulate in Egypt’s capital Cairo early Saturday, severely damaging the building and killing one civilian, and injuring four others, officials said. An Italian diplomat said the consulate was closed at the time and no staff members were wounded in the blast.

Heath Ministry official Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar told The Associated Press that at least one person was killed in the blast. The identity of victim was not clear, Abdel-Ghaffar said, adding that the victim’s limbs were severed, suggesting he was close to the explosion.

A security official said the exact cause of the explosion was still unclear. Another official said investigators are looking the possibility of a car bomb; remains of a car were found in the area of the explosion. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief the media.

According to an Associated Press reporter on the scene, the blast heavily damaged several floors of the Italian Consulate building, leaving a gaping hole with bricks spilling from it and its red facade peeling off. Water from a broken pipe flooded the street.

Police ringed off the area with tape before investigators arrived. Charred car parts were scattered onto the street. A charred, baseball-size piece of an engine block was found blown over a row of buildings onto a parallel street.

The explosion struck one of the busiest intersections in Cairo, a major artery that connects Ramsis Square to the heart of downtown Cairo. Even before 7 a.m. on a weekend in the middle of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the area around the blast would have been crowded with cars, pedestrians and mini-buses.

“I was sleeping when the explosion went off, it blew in my window and when I went outside the air was full of dust,” said Ahmed Hasan, 20, a neighbor whose leg had minor cuts. He said the bomb went off at 6:20 a.m. and that he saw someone with a severed leg.

Egypt has been witnessing a rising wave of violence in recent weeks. Less than two weeks ago, the country’s chief prosecutor was killed in an explosion near his home in Cairo as he was heading to work. Days later, militants waged a coordinated and protracted attack on military installations in the restive northern Sinai province, leaving at least 17 soldiers dead in one of the most brazen attacks on troops in the area.

Hundreds of soldiers and policemen have been killed in militant attacks in Egypt since the army deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

Over the same period, at least 1,400 people, mostly Islamists, have been killed in a security crackdown on protests.

The deadliest attacks against the security forces have occurred in the Sinai Peninsula, most of them claimed by affiliates of the Islamic State jihadist group.

But Cairo and cities and towns in the Nile Delta have also been targeted in such attacks.