According to the MENA news agency, two people, including a police officer, were killed in the explosion that took place two days before a presidential election in the country. Egypt's Health Ministry said earlier that one person had been killed and two other people injured in the incident with the Interior Ministry confirming the death of a policeman while reporting about four wounded people.
The vehicle rigged with explosives blew up in the Rosdy district in the east of the city, according to state media. The Interior Ministry said that the attack targeted chief police Major General Mostafa al-Nem, who was driving by in his motorcade at the moment of the blast, according to Almasryalyoum.com news outlet.
A captain of the Egyptian police was reportedly killed by the blast while the security service's head was not injured.
Police have cordoned off the area around the explosion site.
The photos from the site of blast showing thick smoke have emerged on Twitter.
#Egypt car bomb has killed at least 1 person in the #Egyptian city of #Alexandria. #الاسكندرية pic.twitter.com/wxvRFsqVIE
— Saji Assi (@assi_saji) 24 марта 2018 г.
#JustIn Explosion rocks #Egypt’s 🇪🇬 #Alexandria city.
— MDW-Live! News (@MDWLiveFeed) 24 марта 2018 г.
•Blast occurred near Tolip Hotel in the Stanley neighborhood of coastal Alexandria, witness reports say. pic.twitter.com/hLe40sURE5
The situation in Egypt has been remaining unstable since 2013 when the army overthrew then-President Mohamed Morsi. Within almost five years Islamists staged a number of terror attacks across the country.
