16 killed in firebomb attack on Cairo nightclub

The attackers were said to have arrived on a motocycle.

An Egyptian police investigator stands the entrance of a Cairo disco where a petrol bomb attack took place. Moahmmed El-Shahed / AFP Photo

CAIRO // Assailants attacked a Cairo nightclub on Friday with petrol bombs, killing at least 16 people in the ensuing blaze, following an apparent dispute with the staff, the interior ministry said.

Police were hunting for the perpetrators of the predawn attack on El Sayad club and restaurant.

“Sixteen people were killed and three wounded in the fire that broke out in a nightclub in the Agouza district after Molotov cocktails were thrown at the establishment,” an interior ministry statement said.

“The preliminary investigation conducted by the security services found that there was a dispute between employees and other people who then launched fire bombs at the nightclub in revenge,” it said.

A security source said the attack followed an argument between employees and a group of youths who frequented the establishment.

A thick cloud of smoke was seen billowing from the club after the attack. Firefighters extinguished the blaze before it could spread to neighbouring buildings.

Forensic investigators later inspected the charred entrance, taking photographs and collecting evidence in plastic bags.

Police imposed a security cordon outside as a crowd of onlookers gathered.

The disaster is likely to renew concerns about safety standards in the country, where dozens have died in blazes in recent years.

In July, 26 people were killed when a fire tore through a three-storey furniture factory north of Cairo.

The nightclub had only one exit, which may have prevented some of the patrons from escaping.

A manager at the club said that the wooden ceiling had caught fire and collapsed.

While there was no indication of any link to extremists, the arson comes with Egyptian security forces on heightened alert following a series of attacks including in Cairo.

Militants have killed scores of policemen and soldiers, mostly in the Sinai Peninsula, since the army overthrew president Mohammed Morsi in 2013.

Attacks have also targeted policemen and government buildings in the capital, several of them claimed by an ISIL group affiliate.

The militants have also claimed responsibility for bombing a Russian passenger plane after it left the south Sinai resort of Sharm El Sheikh on October 31, killing all 224 people on board.

They claimed they had smuggled a small bomb on board the plane, in revenge for Russian air strikes in Syria.

* Agence France-Presse