CAIRO — In the makeshift field hospital in the al-Raba'a Adawiya Mosque, people are running, crying and comforting each other. Men walk around wearing bloodied clothing, and women wipe brown spots off the floor. Dirty bandages, empty IV bags and other first aid items are scattered around the place.  

"It looks like a massacre happened, doesn’t it?,’’ a young nurse asks Al-Monitor. "We still can’t believe that so many Egyptians lost their lives. It’s horrible.’’

At 4:00 AM on July 8, at least 51 people were killed and 435 injured in clashes between supporters of toppled Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi and army forces. The Muslim Brotherhood accuses the military of attacking a peaceful pro-Morsi sit-in during dawn prayers, while the military contends that an "armed terrorist group" had attacked the Republican Guard headquarters, where the protest was being held.

Nurses cared for the wounded Muslim Brotherhood supporters at the back of the mosque. The people there were calling the shooting a massacre, including Nevine Helaly, a doctor at the scene when they brought in wounded and dead protesters.