EGYPT: Violent clashes kill three, injure 639, health minister reports

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Egypt’s health minister reported at least three deaths and 639 injuries from Wednesday’s bloody clashes between supporters and opponents of President Hosni Mubarak.

Health Minister Ahmed Farid had said earlier that one member of the security forces died in a fall from a bridge during the melee that ensued after Mubarak loyalists swept into a crowd of anti-government demonstrators, beating them from atop horses and camels.

Farid told state-run Nile TV early Thursday that the death toll had risen to three but provided no details of the casualties.

Reuters news agency reported at least 1,500 injured in the most violent confrontation to date in the 9-day-old campaign for Mubarak’s resignation.

Estimates of the death toll since the protests began on Jan. 25 have varied, with well over 100 confirmed killed but reports by human rights organizations ranging as high as 300 even before Wednesday’s clashes.

-- Carol J. Williams