Three foreign tourists have been injured after two suspected Islamic State militants stormed into a hotel in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Hurghada.

The attackers, armed with knives, were killed by police at the Bella Vista hotel after they stabbed two Austrian guests and a Swede, officials say.

The assailants were aiming to kidnap tourists, officials told the BBC. Reports say they raised the IS flag.

Security forces are still searching for possible further attackers.

The BBC's Sally Nabil in Cairo says Hurghada remains on high alert with all roads in and out closed off.

Egypt is battling Islamist militants based in the nearby Sinai peninsula, including an Islamic State affiliate.

That group said it downed a Russian plane which crashed in October 2015, with the loss of 224 lives.

A spokesman for the UK Foreign Office said they were "urgently investigating" the reports from Hurghada.

He did not know whether any Britons might be affected.

An attack on a bus at a hotel near the Giza pyramids on Thursday was claimed by IS, which said it was targeting "a tourist bus carrying Jews".

Egyptian officials said no-one was hurt in the attack, near Cairo. Arab Israeli tourists were staying at the hotel, reports said.

After a Russian plane crashed in the Sinai peninsula on 31 October, the UK and other European countries halted flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, citing security fears.

Russia also stopped all flights to Egypt.

The departures board on Hurghada airport's website shows foreign tourists travelling to the resort this week have come from Turkey, Germany, Sweden and the UK.

(BBC)