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Cairo streets quiet as death toll rises to 464

Published August 15th, 2013 - 10:41 GMT
An Egyptian woman mourns over the body of her daughter wrapped in shrouds at a mosque in Cairo on August 15, 2013, following a crackdown on the protest camps of supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi the previous day. (AFP)
An Egyptian woman mourns over the body of her daughter wrapped in shrouds at a mosque in Cairo on August 15, 2013, following a crackdown on the protest camps of supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi the previous day. (AFP)

After the violence of Wednesday, reports say that streets of Cairo are quiet on Thursday morning following a crackdown on Islamists that left the country reeling and drew international criticism

According to the Egyptian health ministry, at least 464 people died after Egyptian security forces stormed two protest camps that support the cause of ousted Islamist Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.

The death toll is increasing as citizens attend to the makeshift morgues that were set up across the city on Wednesday. 

Following the violence, Egypt's interim government issued a month-long national state of emergency and imposed a curfew on 12 of the governorates

Wednesday was Egypt's bloodiest day since the 18 day long pro-democray uprising that removed Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the events were "deplorable", according to the BBC.

They were "a real blow to reconciliation efforts" he added, while EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also criticised the use of force.

Egyptians awoke to a frightening and uncertain future, the BBC's Bethany Bell reported from Cairo.

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