14 dead, 130 injured as explosion destroys police office in Egypt

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

14 dead, 130 injured as explosion destroys police office in Egypt

Published time: December 24, 2013 00:01
Edited time: December 24, 2013 03:56

A damaged area is seen after an explosion at a security building in Mansoura city, the capital of Dakahlyia Governorate, about 120 km (75 miles) northeast of Cairo, December 24, 2013 (Reuters / Stringer)

Explosions at a police headquarters in Mansoura, Egypt, early Tuesday morning killed at least 14 people and injured 130, according to Egypt's health ministry.
According to the state health ministry, multiple explosions at a security directorate in Mansoura, capital of the Daqahliya province in northern Egypt, occurred early Tuesday, Al-Ahram reported.
Most of the dead were among police agents inside the partially collapsed five-floor building, AP reported.
Egypt's interim Prime Minister Hazem Al Beblawi labeled the attack a “terrorist incident,” saying those responsible "will not escape justice,” according to AP.
The head of the security directorate was among those injured, Daqahliya governor Omar El-Shawadfy told Egypt state television.

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Hisham Masoud, General Manager of Mansoura’s hospitals, told Ahram the casualty toll is expected to rise based on eyewitness reports of the condition of those in the badly-damaged Daqahliya security directorate.
Al-Ahram’s Arabic site quoted an anonymous security source who said two bombs exploded at the same time. The first, the source said, went off on a higher floor in the directorate as the second detonated in a car next to the building.
A third explosive device in another car was defused, the source said.