UPDATE 1-Blast near cinema in downtown Nairobi injures one - police

A blast near a cinema in downtown Nairobi injured one person on Saturday and security services cordoned off the site, police said. The cause of the blast was not immediately clear, police spokesman Charles Owino told Reuters.

A Reuters reporter at the scene said there did not appear to be any major damage to surrounding shops. The incident comes less than two weeks after Islamist militants stormed an upscale hotel in Nairobi, killing 21.

Security guard Appolonary Odero, who was in the area, said the blast took place around 7 p.m. (1600 GMT). "There was a big flow of people. A trolley was being pushed by someone and it exploded. It was a very big sharp explosion that made everyone run away," he said. "The man pushing the trolley had some injuries."

He said he was not aware of anyone else injured. (Writing by Katharine Houreld Editing by Hugh Lawson and Edmund Blair)