Security forces under attack over football riot carnage

Egyptian police fired tear gas at demonstrators outside the interior ministry in Cairo last night as thousands gathered in protest at the security forces’ failure to prevent a football riot that left at least 74 people dead.

Protesters and some MPs have blamed the military for the deaths. Fans were beaten and knifed, but most died in a stampede in a narrow exit.

A peaceful march, which started out at the HQ of the Al-Ahly football club, culminated in angry scenes at the ministry building near Tahrir Square.

Security forces guarding the area were separated from the more than 10,000 protesters by concrete blocks and barbed wire, but tensions rose as demonstrators advanced, removing some of the barriers.

Police responded with heavy tear gas, sending demonstrators running, with some passing out and falling to the ground. In response, protesters set fire to tyres, sending black smoke billowing into the air. Egyptian state TV said 100 people were left unconscious by the tear gas.

Wednesday’s riot at the stadium in Port Said erupted when fans of local team Al-Masry stormed the field following a rare 3-1 win against Al-Ahly, one of Egypt’s biggest clubs.

A network of die-hard Al-Ahly fans known as Ultras later vowed vengeance, accusing the police of intentionally letting rival fans attack them because they have been at the forefront of protests over the past year, first against president Hosni Mubarak and now the military. Many vowed to storm the ministry. “Either they [police] will die or we will die,” Islam, a member of the Ultras, said. “We are willing to die for the blood of martyrs.”

Yesterday prime minister Kamal el-Ganzouri announced he had dissolved the Egyptian Soccer Federation’s board and referred its members for questioning by prosecutors over the Port Said incident.

He said the governor of Port Said and its police chief had resigned. Several MPs claimed the security force’s lapse was intentional, aimed at stoking insecurity as Egypt seeks a peaceful transition to civilian rule after the fall of army-backed president Mubarak last year.

Others accused the police of allowing the riot to happen out of vengeance against the Ultras who were at the forefront of protests last February which hastened Mubarak’s departure. In recent months they have been agitating for an end to military control. Parliamentary speaker Saad el-Katatni, of the Muslim Brotherhood, accused security forces of negligence. “This is a complete crime,” said Abbas Mekhimar, head of parliament’s defence committee. “This is part of the scenario of fuelling chaos.”

During the riot in Port Said, Al-Masry fans stormed the field at the end of the match, after their team convincingly beat Al-Ahly. Al-Masry fans, armed with knives, sticks and stones, chased Al-Ahly players and fans, who made for the exits and up into the stands in a bid to escape.

Witnesses said riot police stood by and watched. At one point, the stadium lights went out, plunging it into darkness. At the time, the sports broadcaster said authorities shut off TV coverage to “calm the situation”.

“We were surprised the police let them in that easy. The numbers were huge,” said Ahmed Ghaffar, one of the visiting Al-Ahly fans at the stadium.

Mahmoud Ibrahim, 22, a survivor who visited a Cairo morgue where two of his dead friends were taken, said that after the lights went out, people were left “to kill each other.”

He ran into the corridor. “We went down trying to get out and everyone was pushing. Under me was more than three people and I am being pushed. Everyone is pushing trying to breathe,” he said. Around 1,000 fans were also injured.