Students from the Al-Azhar University protested on Saturday in Nasr City against the university management. The students hold the university responsible for the death of an engineering student, Ahmed El-Baz, who died in the university clinic.
According to a statement issued by the university student union on Saturday, the university is guilty of “gross negligence and corruption” after students repeatedly warned the university that its medical care system was unacceptable.
El-Baz died early on Saturday, although the cause of his death remains unclear. Abdel Rahman Gad, a student at the university, said there are various rumours regarding the cause of El-Baz’s death. “Some people believe it was a heart attack, while others are saying he died of a fever,” Gad said.
The union said that students had warned the university that El-Baz’s condition was serious, but his illness was dismissed by a doctor at the university clinic who claimed his condition was stable and that he did not need to be transferred to a hospital.
Hundreds of students participated in the protest, holding university vice-president Tawfik Mohamed responsible for the negligence.
The union demanded an urgent investigation into the university’s negligence, stressing the need to provide adequate medical care to students.
A nationwide protest will take place today, according to Gad, dubbed the ‘University Day of Rage’. He said the protest is being held across the country and will involve students from various universities in Egypt.
The university has been under pressure from students for several weeks after 561 students were affected by food poisoning in April. As a result of the protests that followed, the university announced it would hold elections to replace the head of the university Osama Al-Abd and his top aides.
