Jeremy Bowen was shot while covering the military coup in Egypt

The BBC's Middle East editor has been shot while covering the military coup in Egypt.

Jeremy Bowen was shown having his head bandaged in a photograph posted on Twitter - but reassured followers that he was not seriously injured.

In a message on the site, the veteran reporter said: "Thanks for the messages. I've been hit by a couple of shotgun pellets. Am fine and heading out."

Bowen later admitted: "Could have been a lot worse."

He appeared to have blood on his face in the photograph and later went for an X-ray.

The incident came on the day a supporter of ousted president Mohammed Morsi was killed in Cairo.

Bowen wrote on Twitter that he could see the bloodied body of the man, with the last message before he was injured reading: "Tear gas fired by army at crowd that had gathered round the body of dead protester."

He warned there could be more violence to come, on a day when the Muslim Brotherhood held a rally vowing to end military rule and reinstate Morsi, with tens of thousands taking to the streets.

Bowen told his Twitter followers: "Big forces against each other in #egypt. If can't channel this into political action not street conflict it is a recipe for more bloodshed."

Foreign Secretary William Hague has said he is "very concerned" by reports of violence in Cairo, calling for "calm heads".