CAIRO, Feb 23: Egyptian police said on Monday they have arrested three suspects over a bomb attack at a famed Cairo bazaar that killed a French teenager and wounded 25 people, most of them tourists.

Sunday’s attack was the first deadly violence since 2006 against Westerners in Egypt, where the tourism industry is a vital foreign currency earner.

The bomb blast ripped through a square lined with cafes and restaurants in Khan al-Khalili, a market dating from the 14th century that is one of the Egyptian capital’s main tourist attractions.

“Three people there were arrested on the scene as suspects after the attack,” a police official said. “Around 15 others are being questioned as witnesses.” There has been no claim of responsibility but analysts said the attack could have been the work of an isolated extremist cell.

“This act highlights social and political unease but appears to be the work of an individual or group acting in isolation,” said Amr Shubaki, a researcher at the Al-Ahram centre of strategic studies.

However, General Fuad Allam, former head of the state security service, warned the attack could herald “a new wave of terrorism in Egypt,” spurred by the global financial crisis and the region’s problems.

The dead 17-year-old French girl was part of a tour group of 54 teenagers from the Paris region who were on a trip to buy souvenirs in the market before heading home on Monday.

Most have been flown home but three remain in hospital, officials said.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he hopes the three can return to France on a hospital aircraft on Tuesday.

“There was a very powerful explosion. Then screams and blood. We all started running,” said Romy Janiw, 28, one of the adults accompanying the teenagers.—AFP