Cairo Blast Kills French Teen, Injures 17 Schoolmates

Tourists targeted in possible Gaza retaliation

By Ambreen Ali, Newser User

Posted Feb 23, 2009 2:08 AM CST

(Newser) – A French teenager was killed and 17 others in her visiting school group were injured when a bomb tucked beneath a bench exploded in a bustling Cairo bazaar last night, the Times of London reports. Police later dismantled a second device in a souvenir market. Three suspects are in custody. French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed "deep sorrow" for the attack. A Muslim cleric called the attackers traitors who "are distorting Islam's image."

[Images (9)]

[Videos (1)]

Egyptian police stand guard next to a pool of blood on the ground outside the Al-Husseini mosque in the Khan el-Khalili market following a blast last night. (AP Photo/Nasser Nouri)

Investigators examine devastation left by a bomb in the square outside the Al-Husseini mosque at the Khan el-Khalili market in Cairo. (AP Photo)

Ambulances arrive to transport injured foreign tourists from the Husseini hospital to the Nasser Institute hospital following a blast at the Khan el-Khalili market. (AP Photo)

An unidentified foreign tourist walks past closed souvenir shops in an alleyway behind the Al-Husseini mosque in the Khan el-Khalili market following a blast. (AP Photo/Nasser Nouri)

An Egyptian plainclothes police officers collects evidence at the scene of a blast outside the Al-Husseini mosque in Cairo. (AP Photo/Nasser Nouri)

Egyptian police attend the scene outside the Al-Husseini mosque in the Khan el-Khalili market following the blast. (AP Photo/Nasser Nouri)

Unidentified foreign tourists leave a restaurant in the Khan el-Khalili market following a bomb blast in Cairo. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Egyptian police block the way to the Al-Husseini mosque, minaret pictured in background, in the Khan el-Khalili market following a bomb blast in Cairo. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

An Egyptian boy peers through a police barrier towards the Al-Husseini mosque at the site of a bomb blast yesterday. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

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Eyewitness footage shows the scene of the attack as police clear the area and begin their investigation. (Viracocha9)

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Cairo Blast Kills French Teen, Injures 17 Schoolmates