36 Muslim Brotherhood prisoners killed in Egypt jalbreak: State media

CAIRO - Agence France-Presse

Egyptian army soldiers take out barbed wire that was surrounding the Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo ahead of planned demonstrations on Aug. 18. AFP photo

Thirty-six prisoners were killed in Egypt on Aug. 18 during an attempted prison break, the official MENA news agency reported.

"A security official has confirmed that 36 Muslim Brotherhood elements were killed during an attempt to escape," the agency reported.

The agency reported that "unknown gunmen" had tried to aid the prisoners, who kidnapped a police officer.

Earlier, the interior ministry said the inmates rioted while they were being transferred to the north Cairo prison of Abu Zaabal, and that police were "dealing with the situation".

The Brotherhood-led Anti-Coup Alliance, which is pressing for the reinstatement of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, accused police of killing the prisoners as they were being moved.

"The Anti-Coup Alliance obtained evidence of the assassination of at least 38 anti-coup detainees in a truck transferring them to Abu Zaabal prison today," the group said in a statement.

"They were reportedly assassinated in their truck with live ammunition and tear gas fired from windows." A MENA said later that trucks carrying 612 prisoners came under attack by armed men, and "a number of prisoners" were killed in ensuing clashes.

Police and the military sent reinforcements around the prison, the news agency reported.