11 killed, 35 injured in suicide bombing in Egypt's Alexandria

Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-09 20:36:47|Editor: Tian Shaohui

EGYPT-ALEXANDRIA-BLAST 

People gather at the blast site in Alexandria, Egypt, on April 9, 2017. Eleven people were killed and 35 others were injured in a suicide bombing near a Coptic church in Egypt's Alexandria governorate, Egyptian Ministry of Health said Sunday. (Xinhua) 

CAIRO, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Eleven people were killed and 35 others were injured in a suicide bombing near a Coptic church in Egypt's Alexandria governorate, Egyptian Ministry of Health said Sunday.

The ministry said in a press release that the suicide attack near Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral Church in Alexandria has so far killed 11 people and injured 35 others.

State-run MENA news agency reported that a police officer was killed in the attack when he attempted to stop the suicide attacker in front of the church.

Right after the blast, police rushed to the scene while ambulances evacuated the victims to nearby hospitals.

Earlier in the day, another explosion rocked a Coptic church in the Egyptian Nile delta city of Tanta, killing 25 and injuring 78 others.

The attacks occurred as Christian faithful observe Palm Sunday, an important feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter.

The prosecutor general ordered swift investigations into both attacks, MENA added.

Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt's population. They have largely coexisted peacefully with the majority-Muslim public for centuries.

At the end of 2016, at least 29 people were killed and 31 wounded in an explosion that targeted the Cathedral of Saint Mark in the Abbasia district in Cairo.

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KEY WORDS: Egypt
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