During yesterday's violent crackdown on two sit-ins protesting the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi and the installation of a military government, one of the last places people tried to hide from the gunfire that killed hundred was the Rabaa Adawiya mosque.
People had been gathering in the area for months at rallies to support decisions by Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and then for sit-ins after his ouster on July 3.
Here's the area on July 5:
REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
Photo from @SherineT: Dissolved Shura council or upper house convenes in #rabaa #egypt pic.twitter.com/4nYfohCi5k
— Patrick deHahn (@patrickdehahn) July 22, 2013
But the mosque didn't offer sanctuary, and actually became a deathtrap for hundreds.
Daily Telegraph foreign correspondent Ruth Sherlock summed it up: "Its easy to see how so many died here."
And here's what it looks like today:
REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
At least the world knows who is running the operation that led to Rabaa's transformation.
Now there's a picture of Sisi on the gate of burned-out Rabaa el Adawiya mosque pic.twitter.com/gjw1AbaZ4X
— Kristen Chick (@kristenchick) August 15, 2013