US checking reports of American killed in Egyptian protests

AFP-Getty Images

Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi burn a Freedom and Justice Party office Friday in Alexandria, Egypt.

By M. Alex Johnson and Jeff Black, NBC News

A U.S. citizen killed on Friday in Alexandria, Egypt, site of anti-government protests, was identified as Andrew Pochter, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo told NBC News on Saturday.

Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, said the 21-year-old student was from Chevy Chase, Md.

In a statement, the school said Pochter was an intern at AMIDEAST, a nonprofit group not affiliated with Kenyon that is engaged in international education, training and development.

"We are providing appropriate consular assistance from our Embassy in Cairo and our Bureau of Consular Affairs at the State Department," a State Department said.

Al Jazeera and Reuters, both quoting doctors and Egyptian security officials, and the Egyptian state news agency MENA reported Friday that Pochter died from a stab wound to the chest in Alexandria.

Gen. Amin Ezzeddin, a senior security official in Alexandria, told Reuters that the American was using a mobile phone camera near an office of President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood as it was being attacked by protesters. He died at a military hospital, Ezzeddin said.

At least 80 other people have been wounded in the Alexandria protests, MENA reported.

The protests are part of the buildup to nationwide "June 30" demonstrations marking a year since Morsi's election. Morsis opponents hope to force early presidential elections, citing a range of social and economic issues.

Morsi's supporters have promised that they will also take to the streets to defend the Muslim Brotherhood-backed government.

"There are no services. We can't find diesel or gasoline," Mohamed Abdel Latif, an accountant, told Reuters. "We elected Morsi, but this is enough."

Charlene Gubash of NBC News contributed to this report from Cairo, Egypt.

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This story was originally published on Fri Jun 28, 2013 4:45 PM EDT

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