Explosion near Cairo airport
Explosion sets off fire outside Egypt's Cairo airport
Explosion at chemicals factory caused by high temperatures, according to Egyptian military spokesman; firefighters gain control of the fire; air movement said unaffected.
CAIRO - An explosion ripped through fuel tanks near Egypt's Cairo airport on Thursday evening, igniting a fire in the area, but the country's civil aviation minister said air movement was unaffected.
Col. Tamer al-Rifai, an Egyptian military spokesman, said the explosion took place at a chemicals factory, Heliopolis for Chemical Industries, and had been caused by high temperatures.
Egyptian state television reported that firefighters had brought the fire under control.
Regional television stations showed ambulances racing towards the scene.
Egypt is battling an Islamist militant insurgency that has carried out attacks, mainly in the remote Sinai Peninsula, where the army has been conducting a security operation since February.
