Cairo, Oct 22 (IANS): Egypt's Prosecutor General Hesham Barakat ordered Tuesday four police officers to be remanded in custody over charges of killing 36 members of Muslim Brotherhood last August, state TV said.

The country's interior ministry said the Islamists died of suffocation from teargas fired by the security forces while they were being transferred to a jail, Xinhua reported.

Armed clashes broke out between the security forces and militants, who intercepted and attacked police vehicles carrying detainees affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood to Abou Zaabal prison in Qalyubiya governorate. Several militants were shot dead in the confrontation.

The four police officials said they were in a state of self-defence, and they fired the tear gas to stop the prisoners from escaping.

One of the prisoners told the prosecutor that the van was overloaded, and it stopped many times when clashes occurred with the security forces.

Egypt witnessed nationwide clashes between supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and the security forces after the forces dispersed two major pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo and Giza Aug 14.

Over 800 people have been killed across the country and more than 2,000 Islamists have been detained.