At least 38 Mursi supporters killed in Egypt

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, CAIRO - Clashes erupted early Saturday in Cairo between security forces and supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Mursi, killing at least 38 protesters and overwhelming field hospitals with the wounded, the Health Ministry said.

While there are conflicting accounts about who instigated the violence, there is no doubt that the confrontation quickly turned bloody. In chaotic scenes that hinted at the scale of the carnage, pools of blood stained the floors of a makeshift hospital near the front lines as doctors struggled to cope with the flood of casualties.

The violence, which raged in the streets near the month-old sit-in held by Mursi's supporters in east Cairo, is likely to harden the resolve of the ousted leader's Muslim Brotherhood, which described the latest bloodshed as a "massacre." On the other side of the political divide, the military-backed interim leadership appears to feel emboldened to move against the Brotherhood following mass rallies on Friday in support of a crackdown against the ousted president and his supporters.

The clashes began after hundreds of Mursi supporters moved out of their encampment outside of the Rabaah al-Adawiyah Mosque late Friday. One group began to set up tents on an adjoining boulevard, where they planned to stay for at least three days, said Mahmoud Zaqzouq, a Brotherhood spokesman. At the same time, he said another group of protesters marched toward a nearby overpass, where they were met by volleys of tear gas from the police. The demonstrators responded by hurling rocks and stones at the security forces.

The Interior Ministry, which oversees the police force, said in a statement that residents in the Cairo neighborhood where the Brotherhood sit-in is located began clashing with marchers, whose protest was cutting off a major artery. The ministry says police intervened to break up the two sides by firing tear gas.

By the early afternoon, Health Ministry spokesman Khaled el-Khateeb said that 38 people were killed, and another 239 people wounded in the violence.

At the crack of dawn, the pace of casualties picked up and a nearby field hospital was unable to cope with the influx, according to Yehia Mikkia, a doctor at the makeshift facility. Mikkia said most of the casualties had wounds to the upper part of the body.

The bodies of more than 12 men shrouded in white cloth were laid out on the floor of the field hospital. Pools of blood colored the floor red.

As crowds gathered on Friday afternoon, authorities announced that Mursi was formally placed under investigation on a host of allegations including murder and conspiracy with the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Mursi has been held incommunicado since being taken into military custody on July 3.