The family of four Irish siblings detained by Egyptian authorities are “hoping and praying” they will return home within days.

A 17-year-old Irish boy caught up in violence in Cairo and detained by the Egyptian authorities might have been “beaten to hell”, his sister has claimed.

Four Irish siblings caught up in the violence in Cairo are being held by Egyptian authorities, their family said.

At least 37 people have died across Egypt as tens of thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters clashed with vigilante residents in the fiercest street battles to engulf Cairo since the country’s Arab Spring uprising.