Reem Leila reports on investigations into Sunday's bomb blast in Cairo's busiest bazaar, the Khan Al-Khalili market By Monday morning bazaars, cafés, shops and restaurants around Al-Hussein square had reopened for business following Sunday's bomb blast in the heart of the Khan Al-Khalili market which claimed the life of a French school girl. Customers had begun to trickle back to the historic area, which now has a macabre new sight, the 30cm diameter crater left by the bomb together with the broken granite bench under which the explosive device had been stowed. Immediately after the explosion the injured were rushed to nearby hospitals. A few hours later, says Abdel-Rahman Shahin, official spokesman at the Ministry of Health and Population, patients were moved to Nasser Institute. "Everything is under control. Those who needed immediate medical attention received it, and anyone who required surgical intervention was operated on." Initial reports suggested the bomb might have been thrown from a passing motorcycle or a hotel window. Though few details of the ongoing investigation have been made public, the Ministry of Interior has issued a statement confirming that the attack involved a homemade device placed under a bench in the main plaza. A police officer at the scene at the time of the explosion said the blast sent stone and marble fragments into the air, wounding passersby. More than 14 suspects were arrested on the site after the explosion, while many others are being questioned as witnesses. Nashaat El-Hilali, assistant to the minister of interior, told reporters there were no indications that the attack was the work of any organised group, and police are working on the suspicion that it was planned by one or more individuals. "As soon as we have accurate information on the bombing it will be announced to the public," said El-Hilali. The 17-year-old French girl killed by the blast which went off at 6.45pm on Sunday was among a group of 54 French high school students from the Paris suburb of Levallois Perret. They were in the market buying souvenirs before heading back to France the following day. Twenty four other people were wounded, 17 French, one German, three Saudis and three Egyptians. Nineteen were discharged from hospital after a few hours. "Most of the injuries were small shrapnel wounds in different parts of the body," says Bahaaeddin Abu Zeid, manager of Nasser Institute. "The remaining five -- three French and two Egyptians -- remain In the intensive care unit of the institute. They are suffering lung injuries, ear drum rupture and lower limb fractures." Among those discharged a number of the injured students received counselling for shock. "I didn't see the bomb, the force of the blast threw me. All I could see was grey smoke. I ran as a tourist bus was trying to back out of the square. It almost ran over me. Then I fell unconscious," Manahi Ali, a 30-year-old Saudi tourist wounded in the explosion, told Al-Ahram Weekly before leaving the hospital. Another Saudi said he and his two friends were heading towards the Al-Hussein Mosque when the blast went off behind them. "We had just stepped out of the taxi and walked a few steps when an explosion rocked the area," says Yehia Behees, a 31-year-old teacher from Riyadh who was injured by shattered glass. Shop owners in the area expressed their shock at the attack. "The blast was so powerful that the earth shook beneath us. We all lay down on the ground. People, foreigners and locals were bleeding while running away from the blast," says Ayman Ragab, 50-year-old owner of a spice shop. "When there was a similar attack at Al-Azhar a few years ago sales dropped by more than 80 per cent. Now the attack is here, what are we going to do? We have children to feed." "I was doing my evening prayer at Al-Hussein Mosque when I heard a loud booming noise and people started panicking and rushing out of the mosque. Police came and sealed the main door, evacuating us from an entrance at the back. I could not go to work today. I felt like staying at home with my children," said Mohamed Abdel-Hamid, a 43-year-old resident of the area.
