BEATEN TO DEATH

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21963, 6 March 1946, Page 5

BEATEN TO DEATH

BRITISH ALEXANDRIA MOBS DESTRUCTION IN RIOTS (10 a.m.) LONDON, March 5. Riots in Alexandria yesterday caused the deaths of 17 persons, including two British soldiers who were beaten to death by a mob. The number injured was 229. These figures were given in the first official statement after a day of confused and mostly second-hand reports. The Egyptian Minister of Works, Desouki Abaza, gave the casualty list late last night. He claimed that British troops had fired on the demonstrators. Other accounts stated that the mob attacked the British who was forced to fire. He said that the two British soldiers who were killed jumped from the window of their guard station and ran along the street. “If they had not tried to run down the street they would have been all right, but the crowd caught and killed them. He added that the British authorities during the day asked if the Egyptian Army could restore peace and were assured that the Egyptians could. Gunfire Continues In the late evening, the Egyptian Governor of Cairo stated that order had been restored but after his statement was issued the Exchange Telegraph’s correspondent in Cairo telephoned the British Union Club and was informed that gunfire was continuing. The Union Club found it necessary to appeal for assistance to the British authorities who sent a guard of 24 armed soldiers. This, according to Reuter's correspondent in Cairo, followed an exchange during the day between the British and Egyptian authorities about who should take the responsibility for restoring order. The British asked permission to guard the British military installations and the Egyptians refused and contended it was their duty to protect British institutions.

The correspondent adds that one of the trouble centres was a British military police kiosk which the Egyptians overran. The British military police, when attacked, were forced to open fire. The Hotel Cecil and the Hotel Windsor were also damaged. The Associated Press correspondent at Cairo gives the following review of the day’s events compiled from unofficial sources. Attempt to Fire Hotel A crowd attempted to pull down the Union Jack at the Atlantic Hotel. Gunfire ensued and the demonstrators then threw petrol into the hotel’s lift shaft and set fire to it. Firemen used ladders to get British personnel out of the hotel. The demonstrators who were repulsed re-formed near the police kiosk where there was another clash. Cairo remained quiet all day. There was an official Egyptian denial of a report which was said to have been broadcast by the BBC that the police in Cairo had to disperse demonstrators. A senior police official later told the Exchange Telegraph’s correspondent in Cairo that there had been no incidents but 670 persons had been arrested because they had attempted to gather in the streets. An Egyptian Government communique states that British soldiers opened fire only when they were attacked. The communique confirms that 15 Egyptians died from shooting and that two British soldiers wefe beaten to death. . Large forces of Egyptian troops and police were guarding strategic points to-day. The city is still out of bounds for British troops. The newspapers under Government orders published without comment the text of a Government communique on the Alexandria rioting.