By Ayman Mohyeldin, Richard Engel, Ian Johnston, NBC NewsCAIRO – Dozens of deaths were reported as clashes broke out during mass demonstrations by supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi in Egypt Friday.Morsi’s Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement had called for a “Day of Rage” in the wake of a military crackdown that killed more than 600 people.The Anti-Coup Coalition, another leading group in the protests against the military takeover, said some of the 28 marches toward Cairo’s central Ramses Square had come under attack.It said 25 people had been killed in the area so far, while a statement issued by the Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party put the death toll at 28.The FJP also said 10 people were killed and 27 injured by gunfire in Ismailia area near the Suez Canal. It added that five people were killed during a rally in Northern Sinai.
Violence was also reported in Egypt’s second city Alexandria and in the Nile Delta city of Tanta, Reuters said.In Cairo, clashes broke out on the May 15 Bridge and the sound of gunfire could be heard coming from an area near the front of a large column of pro-Morsi supporters.A man in civilian clothes with a gun was seen occasionally firing into the air as he walked with protesters on the bridge.Later, crowds of people appeared to be trapped on the bridge by occasional bursts of gunfire on one side and tear gas on the other. Some ran back and forth between the two ends.Other people were seen jumping from the nearby October 6 Bridge to the ground below.Heavy machine-gun fire could also be heard ringing out periodically in other parts of central Cairo. It was unclear who was firing.Protester Mohammad Samir, an English teacher, said Morsi was “the legal president of Egypt.”“Freedom is the only thing we want. [Military chief Gen. Abdel-Fatah] el-Sissi killed democracy in Egypt, so we are here to get our democracy again,” he said.“We will not get back to our homes … again before getting our freedom.”Samir, from Shariqa, named his three-month-old son Nidal, which means “resistance,” because of the protests.Egypt’s military has stepped up security around key sites after at least 638 people were killed and nearly 4,000 injured on Wednesday when security forces cleared sit-in protests by supporters of Morsi, who was deposed by the military last month.
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