Three Egyptians killed, over 400 injured in Port Said clashes: Medics

Egypt’s medical sources say at least three people have been killed and over 400 others wounded in clashes over an unpopular court verdict in the city of Port Said.

“Three were shot dead, 21 were injured by gunshots and 416 were injured due to tear gas,” said Head of Port Said Hospital Abdel-Rahman Farag on Sunday.

“The injured people were sent to nearby Port Said hospitals while the three dead bodies were moved to Port Said general morgue,” Farag added.

Security forces used tear gas as thousands were mourning the death of some 32 people killed during Saturday clashes.

Violence broke out after a court issued 21 death sentences on Saturday in connection with last year’s deadly football riots in Port Said in which 74 people were killed and 1,000 others injured.

Reports from Cairo say heavy clashes are going on near the US and British embassies. Central security forces are said to be firing excessive amounts of tear gas and rubber pellets to disperse the protesters.

Meanwhile, nine people were killed by gunfire during clashes between police and protesters in Suez on Friday, which was the second anniversary of the beginning of the revolution that toppled Egypt’s former dictator Hosni Mubarak.

Thousands of Egyptians staged demonstrations in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, Port Said, and many other cities and towns to call on President Mohamed Morsi, who took office in June 2012, to fulfill his election promises.

The protesters demanded that Egyptian officials including Morsi provide them with pay rise, official contracts, and better working conditions.

The Egyptians launched the revolution against the pro-Israeli Mubarak regime on January 25, 2011, which eventually brought an end to the 30-year dictatorship of Mubarak on February 11, 2011.