Egypt

Update: Port Said death toll reaches 38

Health Ministry and hospital sources put the death toll from violence in Port Said at 38. Another victim died Sunday after being shot during clashes the day before, Abdel Rahman Farag, senior health official at the Port Said branch of the Health Ministry, said.

Farag told private satellite channel Al-Hayat that 457 people were injured Sunday, with 419 people suffering from tear gas inhalation and 38 sustaining injuries from live bullets and birdshot.

Four people were killed during violence Sunday, a day after clashes first broke out, according to state news agency MENA.

Ahmed al-Gayar of Port Said Hospital said two of the four bodies the hospital received Sunday had been shot during the funeral for victims of the Saturday clashes, while the two other victims had died during clashes around the city’s prison and police station.  

A medical source at Canal Hospital had said earlier that another man was shot Saturday and died from the wounds Sunday.

Two of the 37 killed were police officers.

Earlier, Al-Masry Al-Youm had reported that Ahmed Mohamed, 22, was the first fatality Sunday after the victims of Saturday’s clashes had been buried. He was shot and killed Sunday during clashes between security forces and protesters trying to break into a police station.

Another one of the victims killed, Mohamed Ibrahim Mahmoud, 18, was admitted to the hospital after being wounded by a bullet. He was transferred to Ismailia Teaching Hospital, when his condition deteriorated.

Scores of injured victims suffered tear gas inhalation, and 17 sustained injuries from birdshot or live bullets. Military-owned clubs also were set on fire during the clashes.

The situation escalated in Port Said Sunday after the funeral of 29 victims of clashes that broke out following a court recommended death sentences for 21 people convicted of involvement in the Port Said Stadium violence last year, in which 72 football fans died.

General Ahmed Wasfy, commander of the 2nd Field Army, said Sunday that the Armed Forces and police were cooperating to restore order in the city, according to Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper.

Wasfy said he inspected the securing of Port Said prison, the electricity company and police stations to make sure both troops and citizens were safe from violence, particularly during the victims’ funeral, the paper reported.

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