An Egyptian official said the attacker was a former employee who had been fired from the restaurant in the Agouza area in the centre of the city, a bustling nightlife district popular with locals. The restaurant, also a nightclub, was located in a basement which made escaping from the blaze nearly impossible, officials said. Victims of the blast were burned to death or died from smoke inhalation in the establishment. The club is in the Agouza neighborhood club in Egypt’s Giza governorate on the outskirts of Cairo, on the western bank of the Nile.
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One eyewitness said firemen were slow to enter the building because they did not know anyone was trapped inside. “The narrow blackened entrance way was the only way out”. Police were hunting for the perpetrators of the pre-dawn attack on the El-Sayad club and restaurant.
Police suspect two young men carried out the attack.
“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.
Flames could be seen inside the entrance, as one man used a fire extinguisher to try to tackle the blaze. While there was no indication of any jihadist link, the arson comes with Egyptian security forces on heightened alert following a series of attacks including in Cairo.
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There has been no connection made with militant groups operating inside of Egypt that have been carrying out numerous attacks across the country since former President Mohammed Morsi was ousted in 2013.
