Suspect detained after device 'explosion' near US embassy in Cairo

No casualties have been reported by Cairo police or the US embassy

Egyptian officials say they have detained a man after an explosive device caught fire near the American embassy in Cairo.

No casualties were reported following the incident, which occurred at the Semiramis Hotel across the street from the embassy grounds.

A witness told Reuters that they heard an explosion, and then later saw a man with a backpack that had caught fire near that hotel.

“We are aware of a reported incident on Simon Bolivar Street in Cairo. Please avoid the area and monitor local media for updates,” the US Embassy in Cairo wrote on Twitter. “We are aware of reports that public transportation has been disrupted due to the incident. Please exercise caution”.

Following the reported incident, the area around the embassy was cordoned off by security forces. Witnesses also saw an unusually heavy presence of police in the area, with dozens of officers near the embassy grounds where the reported blast was to have occurred.

As those security forces sought to keep the situation under control, the embassy itself was reportedly on lock down while officials investigated the circumstances.

The Egyptian Interior Ministry released a statement saying that the suspect is 24-year-old Abdullah Ayman And El Sameei. That ministry said that he was arrested after a bag he was crying with chemicals in a bottle caught on fire.

An initial investigation into the incident found that Mr El Sameei had “adopted extremist ideologies”, according to the ministry’s statement.

The ministry also confirmed that nobody was injured in the incident, and that mr El Sameei had been referred to the public prosecutor’s office.

The Associated Press reports that police intercepted the suspect outside of the concrete blast barriers that are in place to protect the US embassy, and the nearby British embassies in Garden City.

The embassy has since announced that normal business had resumed, and that Egyptian police had concluded their investigation into the incident.