Egypt: Thief who stole reporter’s phone broadcasts his face to 20,000 people watching live stream

A thief who stole the mobile phone of a Youm7 journalist whilst he was live streaming to the website has had his face broadcast on social media platforms in Egypt.

Mahmoud Ragheb was reporting on the earthquake that residents in cities across Egypt felt yesterday morning, which originated off the Greek island of Karpathos when his phone was snatched.

The thief placed Mahmoud’s phone on his lap and so the 20,000 people watching the live broadcast had a view of the perpetrator’s face as he sped away from the scene.

With a cigarette in his mouth, he is seen on a motorcycle while not wearing a helmet. He has a black t-shirt and denim jacket and occasionally looks behind him to see if anyone is following.

The video was then shared widely on social media under the trending Arabic hashtag, “The Youm7 thief.”

Three Egyptians have now been arrested, according to the interior minister, who said that they had admitted to conspiring to snatch phones from pedestrians.

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