Egyptian security forces have allegedly killed hundreds of protesters staging a sit-in in Cairo.

A spokesman from the Muslim Brotherhood said on Wednesday morning that the Egyptian military had fired at a crowd of demonstrators showing their support for deposed president Mohamed Morsi.

Since the beginning of July, two camps of pro-Morsi supporters have been demonstrating outside the eastern Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque and in the Nahda Square in Cairo.

According to the Muslim Brotherhood, more than 600 people have been killed. Other sources have reported numbers closer to 40 people.

Michael Mann, a spokesman for European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton said: "The reports of deaths and injuries are extremely worrying… We reiterate that violence won't lead to any solution and we urge the Egyptian authorities to proceed with utmost restraint."

The Egyptian Interior Ministry released the statement: "Security forces used only tear gas canisters to disperse the protesters though it was heavily fired at by armed elements from inside the two protest camps, causing the death of an officer and a conscript and the injury of four policemen and two conscripts."

A number of Muslim Brotherhood leaders have been arrested but names have not been released.

Reportedly, many of the Morsi supporters are hiding in Cairo University and in the zoo.