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An Egyptian rights group monitored reported theÌý of an inmateÌýat the Gamasa maximum-security prison in northeastern Egypt amid official .

In response to the death, prisoners protested against the death of their fellow inmate, Mohamed El-Komy, 22, causing aÌý inside the prison,Ìýaccording to the Egyptian Network for Human Rights (ENHR).

The reason for the fire remains unclear. said that at least 10 more prisoners were killed.

El-Komy's family was notified of his death without being told the cause. But according to official papers, he died fromÌý"a failure in the circulatory system."

For its part, ENHR sources claimÌýthat "he was tortured to death by the prison police."ÌýÌý

According to ENHR, the prison administration sought the help of riot forces to disperse by force protesting prisoners who were angry overÌýthe death El-Komy. Several inmates were denied family visits as a result and were forced to stay in the discipline ward.

Unconfirmed reports indicated that 20 inmates were also moved to another maximum-security prison in Assuit in southern Egypt as a punishment forÌýthem and their families.

The group quoted testimonies that saidÌýriot forces wore protective gear while spreading "burning substances" at the prisoners inside their cells, causingÌýburn-like injuries.

"The prison police officers insulted the families of prisoners using obscene words, as they beat up the women waiting in the line," one visitor told ENHR.Ìý

Several rights groups had frequentlyÌý the government to reform prison conditions where many had been allegedly tortured to death, into a hunger strike to protest maltreatment, or medical negligence. Ìý

In March this year, a newÌýlawÌýwas passed by the parliament, relabeling prisons into "correctional facilities" and prisoners into "inmates," while wardens are now described asÌý"directors," a change of names that were subject to mockery by social media activists.

Earlier in January, a produced byÌýAl-Araby TV, a sister company ofÌý°®Âþµº, exposed that hundreds, if not thousands, of political prisoners and detainees held at Egypt's notorious Al-AqrabÌý,ÌýexperiencedÌýyears of maltreatment and inhumane conditions in a film, titledÌý"Scorpion Prison in Egypt:Ìýthe Cemetery of the Living".