Police thwart prison break attempt in Suez

Hundreds of inmates of “Ataga” prison, mostly with criminal records, tried on Monday to escape during the outbreak skirmishes between stone-throwing demonstrators and army personnel near the police station.

Prisoners set fire to the wooden contents of the jails, but policemen were able to control the fire before any significant damages occurred.

Demonstrators echoed the chants of 2011’s historic 18-day uprising. “The people want to bring down the regime,” they chanted. “Leave! Leave! Leave!” chanted others as they were marching into streets.

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi declared on Sunday a month-long state of emergency in three cities along the Suez Canal where dozens of people have been killed over the past four days in protests his allies say are designed to overthrow him.