Egypt activist Gendi died after car crash, not torture: doctor

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian activist whose death provoked violent protests was killed in a car crash and was not tortured to death by police, a senior forensic official said on Tuesday.

Fellow campaigners had said Mohamed el-Gendi, 23, was rounded up along with other youth protesters on January 25, the second anniversary of the start of the Egyptian revolt against autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Security sources said he was taken to a state security camp, interrogated and tortured, drawing parallels with the brutal tactics used by Mubarak's henchmen during his rule.

The interior ministry had already denied the accusations saying Gendi was hit by a car on January 28, and taken to Cairo's Hilal hospital where he died some days later.

That account was backed up by the assistant of Egypt's top forensic doctor, Emad al-Deib, who told Egypt's Al-Hayat channel on Tuesday: "The forensic report confirmed that the death of Mohamed el-Gendi was due to a car accident and dismissed he was subjected to any torture."

Violent protests erupted during Gendi's funeral in Cairo and in his home town in the Nile Delta Town of Gharbiya last week.

(Reporting by Yasmine Saleh and Ali Abdelatti; Editing by Andrew Heavens)