Fresh clashes erupted in Cairo on Wednesday between protesters and police in which at least three people were killed, a doctor told AFP, as violence that has left dozens dead raged into a fifth day.
Clashes broke out in Mohammed Mahmud street, just off Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square, the epicentre of anti-military protests.
Shadi al-Naggar, a doctor at the Omar Makram field hospital, said three people had died in the violence.
“It looked like live bullets, but I didn’t get a chance to examine (them) before they were taken away to the hospitals,” he told AFP.
“One of them had his skull crushed.”
A 10-year-old child was among the latest casualties, hit in the head by a live bullet, according to Father Fawzi Abdel Wahib at a church turned into a field hospital, although it was unclear if the boy had died.
“A 10-year-old child was shot this morning at 7:00 am. He was taken to the Qasr al-Aini hospital. He probably won’t make it alive to the hospital,” said Abdel Wahib.
Riot police erected barricades on Mohammed Mahmud street, shooting tear gas and birdshot, which ricocheted off concrete buildings, sending dust and chips of cement into tear gas-filled air, according to an AFP reporter.
The health ministry has confirmed at least 31 deaths from five days of violence.
Protesters have since Friday been gathering in Tahrir Square — the symbolic heart of protests that toppled Hosni Mubarak in February — to demand the ruling military cede power to a civilian authority.
Violent clashes kicked off on Saturday, prompting a mass anti-military rally on Tuesday in Tahrir, where protesters have been camped out, with police using batons, tear gas, rubber bullets and birdshot against the demonstrators.
