The Italian Consulate in central Cairo has been damaged by a huge explosion, suspected to be a car bomb, which detonated early Saturday morning. One person is reported to have been killed in the blast and at least seven others sustained injuries.

CNN reported that no group has claimed responsibility for the blast. The explosion reportedly led to a collapse of some part of the embassy building.

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Although Egyptian authorities have seen a rise in attacks from different Islamist militant groups, Saturday's blast is the first on an embassy in recent years.

"There's significant damage to the side of the building, a wall has collapsed and there was blood on the debris," photographer David Degner said while describing the scene to CNN.

Two police officers were among those injured, Health ministry official Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar told AP.

According to MENA, preliminary investigations have revealed that the assailants planted the bomb under a car parked near the Italian consulate. Egyptian officials say the bomb was remotely detonated.

Paolo Gentiloni, Italy's Foreign Affairs Minster, said in a tweet that none of the victims worked for the consulate.

"Italy is not intimated," Gentiloni added.

The fatality of the blast would have been considerable higher if it had occurred on a busy day. The bomb targeted one of Cairo's busiest intersections usually packed with pedestrians and vehicular traffic.

In the past, militants angry with the army's 2013 overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi have killed and maimed hundreds of law enforcement officials through suicide and roadside bombs.

The militants seek to overthrow the current government of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, who took office on June 8 2014, after a military coup d'etat he led against President Morsi. Mosrsi was Egypt's first democratically elected head of state.

President Morsi, who was ousted after mass protests against his government, has since been sentenced to death by an Egyptian court. Hundreds of members of the Muslim Brotherhood have also been sentenced to death. They currently wait in death row for their executions.

According to the BBC, in the last two years, Islamist militants have killed around 600 Egyptian police and armed forces officials.

Egyptian public prosecutor Hisham Barakat was killed in a car bomb, which went off in the capital last month. Another car bomb killed three people after exploding in a police station.

President al-Sisi has said in recent weeks that the government will step up its attack against Islamist militants, whose actions are keeping tourists away. 

Tourism is a huge part of the Egyptian economy and the government has been trying to regain the confidence of tourists as the summer season approaches. The season usually sees a peak of tourism activities.

Egypt's State Information Services reports that the North African country earns up to 11.3 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) from tourism. Tourism also provides 19.3 percent of its foreign currency revenues.

TagsItaly, Egypt, Italian Consulate Cairo Bomb Blast, Egypt Tourism