Two people were killed and 15 injured in the violent dispersal of demonstrations next to Tahrir Square on Saturday evening, according to the Ministry of Health.
“The dead were aged 24 and 29,” said ministry spokesman Hamdy Abdel Wahed. He added that the injured are currently being treated at the Helal, Al-Mounira, and Al-Qasr Al-Aini hospitals.
Freedom for the Brave, an independent social movement advocating civil liberties and human rights announced that the deceased were Tamer Abdulfattah and Ramy AbdulAziz.
Abdulfattah, 29, was allegedly shot by six live bullets in the eyes, neck, chest, and shoulders, and died in the Al-Qasr Al-Aini Hospital. AbdulAziz, 24, was shot by a live bullet in the chest, said Freedom for the Brave, citing doctor Ahmed Mamdouh.
The doctor also said that activist Samar Negm was among the injured. She is currently in the intensive care unit of Al-Qasr Al-Aini hospital after being shot by a bullet in the chest, he added.
Khalid Abdulhamid, Freedom of the Brave spokesman, said there was no confirmation about other deaths or minors being shot in Tahrir Square. Unconfirmed reports claiming a 14-year-old boy was killed in the clashes circulated widely on social media.
Thousands of people gathered next to Tahrir Square on Saturday evening to protest against the Cairo Criminal Court’s decision to drop all charges against former president Hosni Mubarak, including murder charges for his role in the deaths of hundreds of protesters during the 25 January Revolution.
Riot police and military personnel aboard armoured personnel carriers sealed off the square itself in the early stages of the demonstrations. The iconic Tahrir Square was the epicentre of the 18-day uprising that topped Mubarak in early 2011.
Security forces eventually dispersed Saturday’s demonstrations with water cannons and teargas, with many protesters arrested.
In response to the incident, the Ministry of Interior said it has been tracking the rallies that followed the verdict between protesters and supporters, in an official statement on Saturday.
The ministry claimed that the” initially peaceful rallies” were penetrated by elements of the Muslim Brotherhood group in the vicinity of Tahrir Square. The group allegedly started throwing stones at the protesters, which compelled the authorities to intervene and disperse the rallies, after warning individuals to leave beforehand.
A Daily News Egypt reporter at the location when security forces started to use water cannons and teargas said he did not see anyone confronting the protesters other than the authorities.
The reporter said the dispersal took place as the protest was growing larger and louder, with people advancing in large numbers towards the barbed wire and the armoured personnel carriers sealing off Tahrir Square.
