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A suicide bomber is reported to have targeted a tourist site in the Egyptian city of Luxor.
Reports suggested a man blew himself up near the ancient Karnak temple, leaving people wounded.
Local media reports say that three assailants were killed in the attack and four bystanders were injured.
The assailants reportedly tried to storm a barricade at the tourist site.
Two of the attackers are believed to have been shot dead by police, but a third passed through the barricade and detonated an explosive device.
A statement from the Egyptian minister for tourism said: “Vigilant police work foiled an attempted suicide attack outside the Temple of Karnak this morning.
“When a car with three individuals attempted to enter the Temple’s parking lot, a suspicious plain clothes policeman forced it to stop.
“One of the assailants ran out of the car and detonated a suicide device killing himself instantly. The police then surrounded the vehicle, killed one additional assailant inside the vehicle and wounded another.
“The policeman who stopped the vehicle sustained minor injuries, but due to his heroic actions many other potential victims were saved and thankfully no tourists were harmed.
“The Ministry of Tourism and the Government of Egypt place the highest priority on the safety of tourists in our country.
“We have enhanced security measures in place at all our sites and we continue to take every possible measure to ensure that no harm comes to anyone visiting Egypt.”
The British Embassy in Cairo is urgently seeking further information into reports of the attack, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said.
“If you’re a British national and you need assistance, call the British Embassy on 02 2791 6000 and select ‘Consular Assistance’,” the FCO added.
Egypt’s antiquities minister has issued orders to increase security at tourist sites across the country following the Luxor attack, the official Mena news agency reported.
The attack will come as a major blow to Egypt’s attempts to attract more tourists following an extended period of political unrest.
More than 60 people, mainly tourists, were killed in a massacre across the Nile river from Luxor at the Deir el-Bahri archaeological site in November 1997.