Three journalists killed during clashes,
CAIRO— Three journalists, including a cameraman for British broadcaster Sky News and a Dubai-based newspaper reporter, were killed and several were injured in the violence in Egypton Wednesday, their employers said.
Sky said Mick Deane, 61, was shot and wounded while covering the violent breakup of protest camps in the capital, Cairo.
It said he was treated for his injuries but died soon after. The rest of the Sky crew was unhurt.
The Gulf News, a state-backed newspaper in the United Arab Emirates, reported on its website that journalist Habiba Ahmed Abd Elaziz, 26, had been shot dead near the Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque in Cairo as security forces moved in on a sit-in by supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi.
The newspaper said she had been on annual leave and was not on assignment at the protest for the XPRESS, a sister publication that she worked for.
Egyptian journalist Ahmed Abdel Gawad, who wrote for the state-run newspaper Al Akhbar, was killed while covering the crackdown at Rabaah al-Adawiya. The Egyptian Press Syndicate, a journalist union, confirmed Gawad’s death, though it had no other information about how he was killed.
Sky said Deane had worked for the broadcaster for 15 years in the United States and the Middle East. He was married with two sons.
Sky news chief John Ryley said Deane was “the very best of cameramen, a brilliant journalist and an inspiring mentor to many at Sky.”
British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was “saddened to hear of the death” and said his thoughts were with Deane’s family and colleagues.
The International Press Institute said it had received reports that journalists were being targeted by both sides in the clashes.
“Journalists are neutral parties in conflicts and should not be the target of violence, regardless of who is perpetrating it,” executive director Alison Bethel McKenzie said. “The Egyptian government must also be held accountable by the international community for any deaths or attacks that deliberately targeted media workers.”