Egypt: Death toll in weekend violence rises to 80

    HAMZA HENDAWI
    July 28, 2013
    An Egyptian grieves for supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi, who were killed in overnight clashes with security forces, at a field hospital in Nasr City, Cairo, Saturday, July 27, 2013. Clashes erupted early Saturday in Cairo between security forces and supporters of Morsi, killing scores of protesters and overwhelming field hospitals with the wounded, in an outburst of violence that put the possibility of political reconciliation in the deeply divided nation ever further out of reach. Arabic on headband of man holding the Quran reads, "There is no God but God and Mohammed is his messenger." (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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    An Egyptian grieves for supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi, who were killed in overnight clashes with security forces, at a field hospital in Nasr City, Cairo, Saturday, July 27, 2013. Clashes erupted early Saturday in Cairo between security forces and supporters of Morsi, killing scores of protesters and overwhelming field hospitals with the wounded, in an outburst of violence that put the possibility of political reconciliation in the deeply divided nation ever further out of reach. Arabic on headband of man holding the Quran reads, "There is no God but God and Mohammed is his messenger." (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

    CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian Health Ministry official says the death toll in weekend clashes between security forces and supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi has risen to 80.

    Khaled el-Khateeb, the head of the ministry's emergency and intensive care department, provided the new tally Sunday.

    An official at Cairo's main morgue, however, put the toll at 83 after 11 bodies arrived at the facility Sunday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the press.

    The bloodshed began early Saturday when pro-Morsi protesters sought to expand their sit-in camp by moving onto a nearby boulevard, only to be confronted by police and armed civilians.

    It was the deadliest single outbreak of violence since the military ousted Morsi in a July 3 coup.