Thousands of citizens in the Assuit Governorate protested against the shortage of bread early Sunday by blocking the town’s railway tracks and the agricultural road.

The protesters in the town of Bani Kora in Assiut were angry that the bakery owners refused to hand the bread to the town's popular committee which would then hand them over to the people.

Mohamed Mustafa, head of the popular committee in Bani Kora, says that bakery owners Saturday made a deal with the leaders of the committee to hand over the baked bread to them so that they could distribute it to the people. He said that the meeting was attended by members of the army and the police but despite that, the bakery owners backtracked on the agreement and refused to hand over the bread.

Mustafa added that the town is supposed to be given 136 sacks of flour per month but they don’t receive any and that bakery owners prefer to sell them in the black market.

Officials from the governorate’s office, with the help of police and army personnel successfully convinced the locals to open the railway station and promised them 27 sacks of flour.