At least 16 people, including five women, were killed on Friday in a firebomb attack on a nightclub in Cairo by three motorcycle-borne masked assailants who threw Molotov cocktails on it, apparently after a dispute with the club’s staff over their entry.

The ministry of interior, in a statement, said a preliminary investigation indicated that the attack happened after a dispute between the nightclub staff and a group of youths, who then threw Molotov cocktails at the main entrance of El Sayad nightclub-cum-restaurant, located about 5 km from the iconic Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo.

The incident was apparently not motivated by terrorism, the ministry said, adding that 11 men and five women were killed and three others injured in the attack.

Police have launched a manhunt to nab the attackers who carried out the attack on the nightclub in the Agouza district because they were previously not allowed to enter, state news agency MENA reported.

A thick cloud of smoke was seen billowing from the fire-ravaged nightclub.

The youths had attacked the main entrance of the nightclub with about 15 Molotov bottles and birdshots. They used motorcycles to escape after the incident.

Cairo has previously been rocked by a series of attacks on security forces and civilians carried out by suspected Islamist militants.

An Islamist insurgency intensified in the wake of the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.