73 reported dead after violence at football match in Egypt

AT least 73 people are reported to have died in clashes after a football match in Egypt.

The deaths occured after a match between local clubs Al-Masry and Ahly when hundreds of the winning team’s fans were reported to have poured onto the field at full-time in Port Said.

A security official says they attacked players and fans of their opponents, while a medic at a morgue in Port Said, a city on the Mediterranean coast, said some of the dead were security officers.

The causes of the deaths were not immediately known and players were later taken to the dressing room for protection, Sayed Hamdi, a player, told state TV.

Soon after the violence, a match in the Cairo Stadium between the Al-Ismailiya and Zamalek was called off in mourning for the earlier violence with State TV showing a video of sections of the stadium on fire. The announcer said angry Zamalek fans protested about the cancellation and decided to set some sections of the stadium alight.

All matches in the Eyptian league have now been suspended with the country’s parliament due to hold an emergency session tomorrow morning to decide what action to take in the wake of today’s events.

The two teams have a long history of bad blood, and clashes have erupted in recent years between their fans.

Egypt’s deputy health minister Hesham Sheiha said: “This is unfortunate and deeply saddening. It is the biggest disaster in Egypt’s soccer history.”