CAIRO: The Minister of Health was kicked out of Tahrir Square Wednesday morning as he urged protesters to leave during a press conference.
He denied that nerve gas was used to disperse protesters, but confirmed the use of live ammunition.
Minister Amr Helmy confirmed that live ammunition was used, causing several deaths. However, he added, police is not to blame for that and it is up to the prosecutor to determine the culprit.
“Yesterday they found three Americans instigating people against police forces. You can never know if live ammunition was local or international, used by the police or other external forces; we have to wait for the investigations,” he said.
Thirty-five were killed in clashes with security forces in protests around the country, the ministry said. The number is contested by rights groups that say it’s 38.
In a press statement, rights organizations said evidence and investigations thus far indicate clear targeting by security forces using live ammunition, shotgun cartridges, severe beating and dragging of demonstrators through the streets, and stone throwing, as well as excessive use of tear gas.
Helmy denied reports that nerve gas was used. Police has been using firing teargas canisters intensively at protesters in Mohamed Mahmoud Street. Many said the symptoms were much worse than those caused by tear gas used in January, at the start of an uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak.
Reports fueled concerns about the potency and nature of the tear gas. Rights groups said they fielded research teams to investigate the claims and conduct medical tests.
Demonstrators on Nov.22 said police used transparent gas, believing it to be “CR.” The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said they are still investigating.
"CS and CR are different kinds of tear gas. There is no cure for, them just palliative treatments and doctors should treat patients symptomatically. However, CR has more obvious effects than CS. Although CR is less toxic, it has less systematic effect but more lacrimation," said Abeer Mansour a medical toxicology scholar from Cardiff University.
"It has been proved by the US national toxicology institute that CS gas which is more potent is not carcinogenic,” said Mansour. Reports about CR weren’t conclusive.
However, extensive exposure to both gases may cause pulmonary edema and death from hypoxia, Mansour said.
She explained that the intensity of symptoms varies from one person to the other.
Once the gases are fired, people should move away from the point of exposure and remove contaminated clothes as both gases causes discomfort, pain, intense tearing and spasm of the eyelids, she added.
There may also be physical injury to the eye by the pressure jet from the canister or from particles embedded in the eye and/or respiratory tract, like sneezing, coughing and increased secretions with chest tightness.
In the press conference, the Minister of Health denied that either of the gases is carcinogenic.
He also said that there is no shortage of facilities and supplies in the hospitals to treat the injured, while praising the efforts exerted by Egyptians physicians. Funds have been allocated to ensure the availability of medical supplies in hospitals, he said.
The minister did not answer a question by a doctor about the unavailability of official reports about the cause of the injuries. Instead he urged protesters to leave the square.
A group of 100 then started chanting “we will not leave, he must leave.” As they approached, the minister’s guards led him to his car and left.
He had planned on visiting filed hospitals around the square, but did not.
