One Killed in Clashes during Egypt's Constitutional Poll
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A person was killed during clashes between supporters of ousted president Mohamed Mursi and security forces in Upper Egypt's Beni Suef governorate while residents were voting on a new draft constitution on Tuesday, a health ministry official said.
"A young man was shot dead during a protest against the referendum near a polling station in Naaser town in Beni Suef, south of Cairo," said Khaled al-Khatib, head of the Emergency Central Administration.
He added that another one died of a heart attack while standing in a long queue waiting to cast his vote at Ain al-Seira district in southern Cairo, Xinhua reported.
A pro-Mursi alliance led by the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been branded by the government as a "terrorist group," announced it would boycott the referendum and stage anti-government mass protests during the two-day vote.
In response, the government deployed more than 380,000 security men in addition to 650 special forces to protect polling stations and voters and to swiftly face emergency cases.
Egyptians headed to polling stations in the country's 27 governorates on Tuesday morning to vote on the new constitution that is meant to replace the one drafted and approved under the ousted president and his Brotherhood group.
