One person was killed Saturday in a powerful explosion that partly damaged the Italian consulate in central Cairo, health ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar said.

His statement came after a medic told an AFP journalist at the scene of the blast that it had wounded two policemen and three passers-by, but Abdel Ghaffar was unable to specify if the dead person was a member of the security forces or the public.

Egypt's official MENA news agency said that early indications were that the explosion was caused by a bomb that had been planted in a car parked near the consulate. (AFP)