Egypt's interior ministry said a policeman who shot dead a civilian after a brawl in a Cairo street on Thursday has been detained and will be questioned about the incident.

The policeman shot dead a driver in the working-class Cairo district of El-Darb El-Ahmar after an argument over the fare for loading goods onto the driver's vehicle, the ministry said in a statement early on Friday.

The policeman fired his gun to disperse a crowd of locals who had gathered and were sympathising with the driver, leading to the death of the driver, the statement added.

Cairo security directorate in an earlier statement said the policeman had shot dead the driver "by mistake."

The policeman involved has been arrested by police, who notified prosecutors to open a probe into the incident, the ministry said.

He was sent to a local hospital to treat injuries sustained when the crowd assaulted him.

Hundreds of people converged outside Cairo security directorate to protest the death late on Thursday.

The incident comes on the back of a public fury over alleged abuses by police in recent weeks.

A mounting outcry has been sparked by an alleged attack last month by policemen on two doctors at a Cairo hospital, after the physicians allegedly refused to fake medical records. Thousands of doctors rallied last week to demand the assailants be held accountable.