Scores killed in Egypt football violence |
At least 73 people have been killed in clashes after a football game in the Egyptian city of Port Said, medics say.
Obama said after the Egyptian revolution:
“We should raise our Children to be like the Egyptian Youth”
|
Fans of the winning al-Masry team flooded the field seconds after the match
with al-Ahly, Egypt's top team, was over.
A security official said the fans chased the players and cornered their
supporters on the field and around the stadium,throwing stones and bottles
at them.
Thousands of supporters covered the field, as seen in a video posted
online.
"This is unfortunate and deeply saddening. It is the biggest disaster in
Egypt's soccer history," Hesham Sheiha, deputy health minister, said.
He said most of the injuries were caused by concussion and deep cuts.
Al-Ahly football players were trapped in the changing room along with
supporters. Riot police were sent in to drive the rival crowds of fans back.
Reuters news agency quoted military sources as saying the army sent
helicopters to transfer al-Ahly football players and fans from Port Said.
'War, not football'
"This is not football. This is a war and people are dying in front of us.
There is no movement and no security and no ambulances," Abo Treika told the
Ahly television channel. "This is a horrible situation and today can never be
forgotten."
Fans stormed the pitch second after the game was over |
State television announced that parliament will hold an emergency session
over the violence. State prosecutors ordered an investigation into the pitch
invasion and the violence that ensued,
Al-Ahly's supporter club, Ultras, said on their website that they would head
to Port Said later in the evening.
Al-Masry team won a rare 3-1 against Al-Ahly.
The two teams have a long history of bad blood, and clashes have erupted in
recent years between their fans.
Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Cairo, said several football
games after the revolution have witnessed violence due to the absence of police
forces.
"In the security vacuum that has lasted since the revolution, the police
force has basically disappeared from the street after their notorious
performance during the revolution."
A match in Cairo on Wednesday evening was interrupted following the news of
the deaths in Port Said. Television footage showed a big fire behind the
supporter stand at the Cairo stadium.
The Premier League which the games were part of was suspended
indefinitely.
Blame it on the mob of fans. It is not the Egyptians. It is soccer. Soccer has had massive deaths in various places such as England, Russia,Turkey and Argentina. Peru had the worst with 318 deaths.
ReplyDeleteIt is kind of like the flaming GOP getting their underwear tied into knots and burning capitalism.
Peru? LMFAO
ReplyDelete