Ousted Egyptian president Morsi collapses in court, dies

Egypt’s ousted president Mohammed Morsi on Monday collapsed during a court session and died, state television reported.

State TV reported that the 67-year-old was attending a session in his trial on espionage charges when he blacked out and then died. His body was taken to a hospital, it said.

“He was speaking before the judge for 20 minutes then became very animated and fainted. He was quickly rushed to the hospital where he later died,” a judicial source said.

Morsi, who was affiliated with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood was elected president in 2012 in the country’s first free elections following the ouster a year before of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak.

The military ousted Morsi in 2013 after massive protests and crushed the Brotherhood in a major crackdown, arresting Morsi and many others of the group’s leaders.

The Muslim Brotherhood said that the death Morsi was “full-fledged murder” and called on Egyptians to gather for a mass funeral.

In a statement on its website, the Brotherhood also called for crowds to gather outside Egyptian embassies around the world.