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As Paris restaurants begin to reopen following November's horrific terror attacks that killed more than 130 people, tragedy struck a restaurant in the Egyptian capital of Cairo this morning. According to Reuters, a Molotov cocktail thrown into the establishment left 16 dead and two more injured.
Per USA Today, Egyptian state media says the attack was perpetrated by three men on motorcycles. The restaurant, which is called El Sayad and also houses a nightclub, is located in a basement which made escape next to impossible for the people inside. According to officials, one of the attackers is thought to be a previous employee of the restaurant who had been fired. Reuters says "an initial investigation indicated that the Molotov was hurled after a dispute erupted between restaurant workers and others."
Video shot by an eyewitness shows clouds of thick smoke pouring from the building just after the attack; the victims reportedly died of either smoke inhalation or burns.
Sadly, it isn't the first time for a restaurant to be attacked with Molotov cocktails: Earlier this year a KFC in Nevada was firebombed, in an act thought to be the work of an extremist animal rights group; in 2012, arsonists hit several Montreal restaurants with Molotov cocktails. Thankfully no one was injured in those cases as the restaurants were all empty at the time of the attacks.
