CAIRO (AFP) -Two suspected bombs placed on the tracks of the Cairo metro that briefly halted the busy train service on Thursday turned out to be a hoax, an interior ministry official told AFP.

The devices "made to look like bombs contained no explosives," the official said, adding that "they were fake."

Earlier on Thursday, Egyptian authorities grounded several metro lines in the capital after the two devices were found on the tracks in a south Cairo station, security officials said.

Bomb experts were dispatched to the scene.