Death toll revised in Cairo bomb blast: 2 police officers killed

A bomb blast in downtown Cairo has killed at least two police officers and left a number of people injured on Sunday, a medical official said. 

Earlier state media reported that two officers and two civilians had been killed, although this was later revised down to one police conscript.

A second police officer has now been confirmed as dead in the attack, which took place in a heavily crowded area on the Nile River which houses the foreign ministry and state television headquarters.

Earlier reports had stated the foreign ministry had been the target, although some have said the explosion did not take as close to the ministry as first reported.

Social media users shared aerial photos showing the scene and state television broadcast the immediate aftermath of the bomb site.

Others said violence had been expected in Egypt as President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi visits the US for an official visit.

Egypt has been plagued by violence since the popularly backed military coup that ousted the country's first freely elected president Mohammed Morsi in July last year. Militant groups from the restive Sinai Peninsula have claimed responsibility for a string of attacks that have targeted state buildings and killed scores of police officers.