One Egyptian policeman was killed in a bombing outside the foreign ministry in Cairo, the interior and health ministries said, revising an earlier toll.

Seven people were wounded in the blast that targeted a police checkpoint, assistant interior minister Abdel Fattah Othman told the official MENA news agency on Sunday.

Senior health ministry official Mohamed Soltan also told AFP news agency that the blast killed one policeman.

Earlier state TV reports spoke of at least four casualties; two police officers and two civilians.

Live television footage showed the aftermath of Sunday's blast, which brought a tree down on a nearby car. Policemen with sniffer dogs were scouring the area for more bombs.

Two policemen, both bomb disposal experts, were killed trying to defuse bombs outside the presidential palace in June.

PHOTO CAPTION

Forensic workers carry out investigations at the scene of the blast near the foreign ministry [Reuters]

Al-Jazeera