Egypt's state prosecutor has died hours after a powerful bomb hit his convoy in Cairo, officials say.
"He has passed away," Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zind said at the hospital where Hisham Barakat had been taken following the Monday morning bombing.
Investment Minister Ashraf Salman also confirmed that Barakat was dead.
He was the most senior government official killed since jihadists launched an insurgency following the military overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Barakat's assassination will come as a blow to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief who overthrew Morsi and won elections pledging to wipe out Islamist militants.
The bomb destroyed several cars and blew out store windows in the upscale district of Heliopolis. At least five vehicles were completely gutted in the explosion.
At the hospital, a bruised bodyguard recounted to prosecutors how the blast hit Barakat's convoy as it headed to his office.
"There was a massive blast all of a sudden," he said. "There was glass flying everywhere. It was as if there was an earthquake."
Barakat died of organ failure caused by his severe wounds, a doctor who had treated him told AFP.
The bombing came after the Islamic State group's affiliate in Egypt called for attacks on the judiciary following the hanging of six alleged militants.
The militants have killed scores of policemen and soldiers in attacks since Morsi's overthrow, mostly in the Sinai Peninsula.
Sisi's government has blamed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood for the violence and pledged to eradicate the group, once the largest political movement in Egypt.
At least 1400 people, mostly Islamist supporters, have been killed in a police crackdown on protests, and much of the Brotherhood's leadership has been arrested.
Courts have sentenced hundreds to death, including Morsi himself, who was convicted of involvement in attacks on police stations.
Morsi's sentence is being appealed.
AFP
source: newshub archive
