Early Wednesday morning, Egypt's security forces violently cleared out two sprawling camps filled with Islamists and Mohamed Morsi supporters.
The clashes between black-clad military men and plain-clothed protesters escalated quickly. Egypt's official news agency claims at least 149 people have died — including a cameraman for British broadcaster Sky News. The Muslim brotherhood, however, says the death toll is as high as 2,000.
Whatever the facts, the images emerging from the chaotic scene are terrifying: Dead bodies lined up in empty rooms, people fleeing with the injured hoisted on their backs and in their arms, streets engulfed in thick black smoke.
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Here, a selection of images of the horror Egypt is experiencing.
A protester comforts a wounded person who lies in front of a wall of flames in the eastern Nasr City district of Cairo. (AP Photo/Ahmed Gomaa)
A police vehicle plummets off a bridge. (AP Photo/Aly Hazzaa, El Shorouk Newspaper)
A Morsi supporter takes cover behind a cooking pot. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)
A poster of Mohamed Morsi lies on a bulldozer that is surrounded by burning tires and smoke. (REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)
A woman cries out while looking at the wounded. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)
A protester is confronted by Egyptian security forces. (Engy Emad/Xinhua Press/Corbis)
Police carry a wounded soldier in Cairo. (Amru Salahuddien/Xinhua Press/Corbis)
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