At least 23 Christian worshippers have died in an attack on a bus in Minya

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A group of more than 50 Coptic Christians travelling towards the monastery of St Samuel near Minya, about 150 miles from Cairo, was targeted by "armed terrorists", according to state media.

So far least 28 people are reported to have been killed and a further 24 wounded.

Images brioadcast on state television show a coach riddled with bullets with almost every window smashed.

Bishop Anba Ermia, president of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Centre, tweeted that as many as 35 people had died, including children.

Eyewitnesses said the Copts were attacked as they were going to pray at the monastery, in the western part of the province.

Their convoy was stopped on a road approaching the place of worship by a group of masked gunmen, who then opened fire.