Twelve people were injured in a fuel tank explosion near Egypt's Cairo International Airport on Thursday night, but the air traffic was not affected.

Security sources told the state-run MENA news agency that the blast occurred in Cairo's heliopolis district.

Two tanks that belong to a petrochemical company exploded outside the airport, said Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Mohamed Younis al-Masri in a statement.

All domestic and international flights have been operating normally, he said.

The minister added that the explosion was caused by high temperature and the fire was under control.

Xinhua