A British cameraman is among at least 100 killed as an operation to clear two camps filled with thousands of protestors loyal to ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi descended into violent chaos.
Mick Deane was part of a Sky News team in Egypt reporting on a security force operation to raid the camps in the capital Cairo when violence broke out.
Security forces are said to have opened fire on mostly unarmed protestors in the operation which began shortly after 7am local time.
Although the total number of dead in the clashes is unconfirmed, burned corpses have been seen on the streets which resemble a war zone.
Mr Deane, 61, had worked for Sky for 15 years based in Jerusalem and then Washington.
Sky head of news John Ryley described his as an 'inspiring mentor to many' and a brilliant journalist. The rest of the Sky team were unharmed.
He said: 'Everyone at Sky News is shocked and saddened by Mick's death.
'He was a talented and experienced journalist who had worked with Sky News for many years.
'The loss of a much-loved colleague will be deeply felt across Sky News. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and family. We will give them our full support at this extremely difficult time.'
The network's foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall called Mick 'a friend, brave as a lion but what a heart… what a human being'.
He added: 'Micky was humorous in a dry way, he was wise and when you're on the road with small teams, people like that are diamonds to be with.
'Our hearts go out to his family. He died doing what he'd done so brilliantly for decades.'
Father-of-two Mr Deane had been working with Middle East correspondent Sam Kiley when he was shot.
He received treatment for his injuries but died soon afterwards, said a Sky News statement.
Prime Minister David Cameron said on Twitter: 'I am saddened to hear of the death of cameraman Mick Deane, covering Egyptian violence.
'My thoughts are with his family and @SkyNews team.'
Channel 4 News reporter Matt Frei said on Twitter: 'So shocked and sad to hear that my old friend Mick Deane has been killed in Cairo. Great friend, great cameraman. He survived cancer.'
The interim Egyptian government has declared a month-long state of emergency across the country. The announcement was made on state television.
It is likely that the state of emergency will include a curfew.
Medics are treating scores of injured people wearing gas masks and swimming goggles to protect themselves from tear gas while they work.
Security forces are said to be armed with machine guns, M16 rifles and AK47s and are reported to have been firing on crowds.
Although the smaller of the two camps was cleared relatively quickly, fierce violence broke out at the larger camp at Rabaa al-Adawiya.
The violence is the latest indication that the country could be heading for all out civil war after weeks of clashes between pro-Morsi protestors and security forces following the ousting of the president.
At the biggest camp in northeast Cairo, security forces fired tear gas as police helicopters circled above and army vehicles were stationed nearby.
The state news agency said security forces were implementing a phased plan to disperse the protesters.
According to Sky News, snipers have been seen on rooftops close to the camps and the sound of machine-gun fire has been heard.
A correspondent for the channel currently in Cairo said that scores of people are being treated for gunshot wounds at a makeshift clinic set up in a mosque at the main camp site.
He described the 'extreme horror' of the situation and said that many of the injured have bullet wounds to the head, neck and upper body and that many are dead.
According to the Telegraph, Hoda Saki, a 28-year-old English teacher whose father is still in the camp, said that she had been fired upon when she tried to re-enter the camp.
She said: 'He called us to say they are shooting at the tents and using tear gas. There are women and children inside.
'They can't count the injuries because there are so many of them.
'With my own eyes, I saw snipers on the roofs shooting down. When we tried to get back in, they shot at us.'
Journalists had also confirmed earlier that they had been shot at.
As well as Sky cameraman Mr Deane, a 26-year-old reporter for XPRESS, Habiba Ahmed Abd Elaziz, was also killed in the violence.
Gulf News confirmed that the reporter was not on assignment at the time, but was killed while on home leave in Cairo.
In addition to hails of automatic weapon fire, smoke has been seen billowing from both camps with images of protestors tents and piles of tyres on fire.
While security forces have confirmed the deaths of two of their personnel, casualty figures are currently unclear with various figures being quoted by different parties.
The Muslim Brotherhood's estimate of the number dead continues to rise, with the group claiming that as many as 2,200 have been killed.
The movement's spokesman Gehad El-Haddad took to Twitter claiming that more than 5,000 people have been injured.
He described today's violence as an unprecedented 'bloody brutal massacre'.
So far, official lines on the number of deaths have played down casualties.
A statement from senior Health Ministry official, Ahmed el-Ansari, who earlier said that four people have been killed and 50 injured at both sites.
Official updates later said that seven have died.
The latest Egyptian Health Ministry statement has confirmed that 56 people have died and 526 are injured.
News agency AFP has published an estimated death toll of 124 this afternoon.
There have also been reports that the violence is beginning to spread outside of Cairo, with reports of further clashes involving Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Minya, Assiut, Sohag and Fayoum.
A church is said to have been set on fire in Minya, some 250km south west of Cairo.
Meanwhile, a morgue official at a hospital in the province of Fayoum, south of Cairo, confirmed this afternoon that nine people have died there in violence.
Supporters of President Morsi are said to have fought with security officers at a police station in the province.
Saad Kannel said that the death toll there had risen from seven earlier.
A further five Morsi supporters have died in an outbreak of violence in Suez, in the north-east of the country. Witnesses say that an armoured vehicle was set on fire.
A council building is also said to have been stormed in Alexandria where hundreds of Morsi supporters have taken to the streets.
Police have reportedly fired tear gas on Morsi supporters there and residents are said to have helped police by arming themselves with clubs and restraining protestors.
The simultaneous actions by the Egyptian forces - at the pro-Morsi encampment in Nasr City and at the site outside the main campus of Cairo University in Giza - began at around 7am local time.
Regional television networks had been broadcasting images of collapsed tents and burning tires at both sites, with ambulances on standby.
Footage showed dozens of protesters being arrested and led away by black-clad policemen.
State television showed footage of some dozen protesters, mostly bearded, cuffed and sitting on a sidewalk under guard outside the Cairo University campus.
The smaller of the two camps was cleared of protesters by late morning, with most of them taking refuge in the nearby Orman botanical gardens and inside the sprawling campus of Cairo University.
Security forces remained on the fringes of the other camp in the eastern Nasr City district after it showered the encampment with tear gas.
Television pictures showed thousands of protesters congregating at the heart of the site, with many wearing gas masks or covering their faces to fend off the tear gas.
A security official, who spoke anonymously, said earlier today that as many as 200 protestors had been arrested.
Officials confirmed that a number of leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood group had been arrested in the move to clear out the protest camps.
Of those arrested, only prominent politician Mohammed al-Beltagi has been named.
'We have arrested a number of Brotherhood leaders but it's too early to announce their names,' General Abdel Fattah Othman, a senior official in the Interior Ministry, told the privately-owned CBC TV channel.
Mick Deane was part of a Sky News team in Egypt reporting on a security force operation to raid the camps in the capital Cairo when violence broke out.
Security forces are said to have opened fire on mostly unarmed protestors in the operation which began shortly after 7am local time.
Although the total number of dead in the clashes is unconfirmed, burned corpses have been seen on the streets which resemble a war zone.
Mr Deane, 61, had worked for Sky for 15 years based in Jerusalem and then Washington.
Sky head of news John Ryley described his as an 'inspiring mentor to many' and a brilliant journalist. The rest of the Sky team were unharmed.
He said: 'Everyone at Sky News is shocked and saddened by Mick's death.
'He was a talented and experienced journalist who had worked with Sky News for many years.
'The loss of a much-loved colleague will be deeply felt across Sky News. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and family. We will give them our full support at this extremely difficult time.'
The network's foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall called Mick 'a friend, brave as a lion but what a heart… what a human being'.
He added: 'Micky was humorous in a dry way, he was wise and when you're on the road with small teams, people like that are diamonds to be with.
'Our hearts go out to his family. He died doing what he'd done so brilliantly for decades.'
Father-of-two Mr Deane had been working with Middle East correspondent Sam Kiley when he was shot.
He received treatment for his injuries but died soon afterwards, said a Sky News statement.
Prime Minister David Cameron said on Twitter: 'I am saddened to hear of the death of cameraman Mick Deane, covering Egyptian violence.
'My thoughts are with his family and @SkyNews team.'
Channel 4 News reporter Matt Frei said on Twitter: 'So shocked and sad to hear that my old friend Mick Deane has been killed in Cairo. Great friend, great cameraman. He survived cancer.'
The interim Egyptian government has declared a month-long state of emergency across the country. The announcement was made on state television.
It is likely that the state of emergency will include a curfew.
Medics are treating scores of injured people wearing gas masks and swimming goggles to protect themselves from tear gas while they work.
Security forces are said to be armed with machine guns, M16 rifles and AK47s and are reported to have been firing on crowds.
Although the smaller of the two camps was cleared relatively quickly, fierce violence broke out at the larger camp at Rabaa al-Adawiya.
The violence is the latest indication that the country could be heading for all out civil war after weeks of clashes between pro-Morsi protestors and security forces following the ousting of the president.
At the biggest camp in northeast Cairo, security forces fired tear gas as police helicopters circled above and army vehicles were stationed nearby.
The state news agency said security forces were implementing a phased plan to disperse the protesters.
According to Sky News, snipers have been seen on rooftops close to the camps and the sound of machine-gun fire has been heard.
A correspondent for the channel currently in Cairo said that scores of people are being treated for gunshot wounds at a makeshift clinic set up in a mosque at the main camp site.
He described the 'extreme horror' of the situation and said that many of the injured have bullet wounds to the head, neck and upper body and that many are dead.
According to the Telegraph, Hoda Saki, a 28-year-old English teacher whose father is still in the camp, said that she had been fired upon when she tried to re-enter the camp.
She said: 'He called us to say they are shooting at the tents and using tear gas. There are women and children inside.
'They can't count the injuries because there are so many of them.
'With my own eyes, I saw snipers on the roofs shooting down. When we tried to get back in, they shot at us.'
Journalists had also confirmed earlier that they had been shot at.
As well as Sky cameraman Mr Deane, a 26-year-old reporter for XPRESS, Habiba Ahmed Abd Elaziz, was also killed in the violence.
Gulf News confirmed that the reporter was not on assignment at the time, but was killed while on home leave in Cairo.
In addition to hails of automatic weapon fire, smoke has been seen billowing from both camps with images of protestors tents and piles of tyres on fire.
While security forces have confirmed the deaths of two of their personnel, casualty figures are currently unclear with various figures being quoted by different parties.
The Muslim Brotherhood's estimate of the number dead continues to rise, with the group claiming that as many as 2,200 have been killed.
The movement's spokesman Gehad El-Haddad took to Twitter claiming that more than 5,000 people have been injured.
He described today's violence as an unprecedented 'bloody brutal massacre'.
So far, official lines on the number of deaths have played down casualties.
A statement from senior Health Ministry official, Ahmed el-Ansari, who earlier said that four people have been killed and 50 injured at both sites.
Official updates later said that seven have died.
The latest Egyptian Health Ministry statement has confirmed that 56 people have died and 526 are injured.
News agency AFP has published an estimated death toll of 124 this afternoon.
There have also been reports that the violence is beginning to spread outside of Cairo, with reports of further clashes involving Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Minya, Assiut, Sohag and Fayoum.
A church is said to have been set on fire in Minya, some 250km south west of Cairo.
Meanwhile, a morgue official at a hospital in the province of Fayoum, south of Cairo, confirmed this afternoon that nine people have died there in violence.
Supporters of President Morsi are said to have fought with security officers at a police station in the province.
Saad Kannel said that the death toll there had risen from seven earlier.
A further five Morsi supporters have died in an outbreak of violence in Suez, in the north-east of the country. Witnesses say that an armoured vehicle was set on fire.
A council building is also said to have been stormed in Alexandria where hundreds of Morsi supporters have taken to the streets.
Police have reportedly fired tear gas on Morsi supporters there and residents are said to have helped police by arming themselves with clubs and restraining protestors.
The simultaneous actions by the Egyptian forces - at the pro-Morsi encampment in Nasr City and at the site outside the main campus of Cairo University in Giza - began at around 7am local time.
Regional television networks had been broadcasting images of collapsed tents and burning tires at both sites, with ambulances on standby.
Footage showed dozens of protesters being arrested and led away by black-clad policemen.
State television showed footage of some dozen protesters, mostly bearded, cuffed and sitting on a sidewalk under guard outside the Cairo University campus.
The smaller of the two camps was cleared of protesters by late morning, with most of them taking refuge in the nearby Orman botanical gardens and inside the sprawling campus of Cairo University.
Security forces remained on the fringes of the other camp in the eastern Nasr City district after it showered the encampment with tear gas.
Television pictures showed thousands of protesters congregating at the heart of the site, with many wearing gas masks or covering their faces to fend off the tear gas.
A security official, who spoke anonymously, said earlier today that as many as 200 protestors had been arrested.
Officials confirmed that a number of leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood group had been arrested in the move to clear out the protest camps.
Of those arrested, only prominent politician Mohammed al-Beltagi has been named.
'We have arrested a number of Brotherhood leaders but it's too early to announce their names,' General Abdel Fattah Othman, a senior official in the Interior Ministry, told the privately-owned CBC TV channel.
The Muslim Brotherhood group claimed that Mr al-Beltagi's 17-year-old daughter, Asmaa al-Beltagi was killed in the clashes today.
The Anti-Coup Alliance, an umbrella of pro-Morsi supporters, said in a statement that there are dozens of dead and injured so far in Wednesday's attacks.
Eyewitness Ahshur Abid said 15 people were killed as the clearing operation started.
He said he saw their bodies at a field hospital at one of the camps.
While supporters say that security forces used live ammunition, officials denied the claims and said that they only fired tear gas on the camps.
They later said that they were only responding to gun fire from demonstrators.
Video footage taken from a camera on board an army helicopter was released by officials this morning who say that it shows protestors firing on security forces first.
Pictures were posted on Twitter of a security forces truck which was full of soldiers that had been pushed off a bridge by protestors in Cairo, killing or injuring those inside.
The Anti-Coup Alliance, an umbrella of pro-Morsi supporters, said in a statement that there are dozens of dead and injured so far in Wednesday's attacks.
Eyewitness Ahshur Abid said 15 people were killed as the clearing operation started.
He said he saw their bodies at a field hospital at one of the camps.
While supporters say that security forces used live ammunition, officials denied the claims and said that they only fired tear gas on the camps.
They later said that they were only responding to gun fire from demonstrators.
Video footage taken from a camera on board an army helicopter was released by officials this morning who say that it shows protestors firing on security forces first.
Pictures were posted on Twitter of a security forces truck which was full of soldiers that had been pushed off a bridge by protestors in Cairo, killing or injuring those inside.
A ministry statement had warned that forces would deal firmly with protesters acting 'irresponsibly,' suggesting that it would respond in kind if its men are fired upon.
It said it would guarantee safe passage to those who want to leave the Nasr City site but would arrest those wanted for questioning by prosecutors.
A security official said train services between the north and south of the country have been suspended in a bid to prevent supporters of the ousted Morsi from travelling to Cairo to reinforce fellow Islamists.
The Egyptian Central Bank instructed commercial banks to close branches in areas affected by the chaos.
The Ministry of Antiquities also ordered the site of the Giza Pyramids closed to visitors along with the Egyptian museum in the heart of the Egyptian capital.
The closures were a precaution effective only for Wednesday, it said.
A statement issued today by the Muslim Brotherhood group from which Morsi hails said: 'The world cannot sit back and watch while innocent men, women and children are being indiscriminately slaughtered. The world must stand up to the military junta's crime before it is too late.'
An Associated Press television video journalist at the scene of the larger of the two camps said he could hear the screams of women as a cloud of white smoke hung over the site in the eastern Cairo suburb.
He said an army bulldozer had earlier removed mounds of sand bags and brick walls built by the protesters as a defence line.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has this afternoon condemned the violence in Egypt.
In a statement, he said : 'I am deeply concerned at the escalating violence and unrest in Egypt, and regret the loss of life on all sides.
'The UK has been closely involved in intensive diplomatic efforts directed at reaching a peaceful resolution to the standoff. I am disappointed that compromise has not been possible.
'I condemn the use of force in clearing protests and call on the security forces to act with restraint. Leaders on all sides must work to reduce the risk of further violence.
'Only then will it be possible to take vital steps towards dialogue and reconciliation.'
It said it would guarantee safe passage to those who want to leave the Nasr City site but would arrest those wanted for questioning by prosecutors.
A security official said train services between the north and south of the country have been suspended in a bid to prevent supporters of the ousted Morsi from travelling to Cairo to reinforce fellow Islamists.
The Egyptian Central Bank instructed commercial banks to close branches in areas affected by the chaos.
The Ministry of Antiquities also ordered the site of the Giza Pyramids closed to visitors along with the Egyptian museum in the heart of the Egyptian capital.
The closures were a precaution effective only for Wednesday, it said.
A statement issued today by the Muslim Brotherhood group from which Morsi hails said: 'The world cannot sit back and watch while innocent men, women and children are being indiscriminately slaughtered. The world must stand up to the military junta's crime before it is too late.'
An Associated Press television video journalist at the scene of the larger of the two camps said he could hear the screams of women as a cloud of white smoke hung over the site in the eastern Cairo suburb.
He said an army bulldozer had earlier removed mounds of sand bags and brick walls built by the protesters as a defence line.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has this afternoon condemned the violence in Egypt.
In a statement, he said : 'I am deeply concerned at the escalating violence and unrest in Egypt, and regret the loss of life on all sides.
'The UK has been closely involved in intensive diplomatic efforts directed at reaching a peaceful resolution to the standoff. I am disappointed that compromise has not been possible.
'I condemn the use of force in clearing protests and call on the security forces to act with restraint. Leaders on all sides must work to reduce the risk of further violence.
'Only then will it be possible to take vital steps towards dialogue and reconciliation.'
Source : SkyNews , DailyMail , AP
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