A damaged bus is seen at the site of a blast near a new museum being built close to the Giza pyramids in Cairo on Sunday. Ahmed Fahmy / Reuters

An explosion struck a tourist bus on Sunday near Egypt's famed pyramids, injuring 17 people including foreigners, security and medical sources said.

South Africans and Egyptians were among those injured when an explosive device went off, hitting the bus, according to the sources.

There were no reports of deaths.

A witness, Mohamed El Mandouh, told reporters that he heard a "very loud explosion" while sitting in traffic near the site of the blast.

Pictures posted on social media showed a bus with some of its windows blown out or shattered, and debris in the road next to a low wall with a hole in it.

In December, three Vietnamese tourists and an Egyptian guide were killed and at least 10 others injured when a roadside bomb hit their tour bus less than 4 kilometres from the Giza pyramids.

Agencies