4 die in Egypt clashes over deadly soccer riot
Source: Agencies |
February 4, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ROCK-THROWING protesters yesterday fought riot police through clouds of tear gas to within meters of Egypt's Interior Ministry on a second day of clashes triggered by the deaths of 74 people in the country's worst soccer disaster.
A demonstrator and an army officer were reported dead in Cairo and in the city of Suez two people were killed as police used live rounds to hold back crowds trying to break into a police station, the ambulance authority said.
Most of those killed in the Port Said football stadium on Wednesday night were crushed in a stampede and the government declared three days of mourning, but protesters hold the military-led authorities responsible.
It was country's deadliest incident since an uprising ousted Hosni Mubarak almost a year ago and it gave fresh impetus to regular street protests against Egypt's ruling generals.
"We will stay until we get our rights. Did you see what happened in Port Said?" said 22-year-old protester Abu Hanafy.
The ministry in Cairo, an object of hatred for football fans who say lax policing was to blame for the disaster, has been hemmed in by the street battles since Thursday.
Thousands were still battling riot police there and more protesters were expected to gather for a "Friday of Anger" declared by 28 youth groups and political parties.
Witnesses heard firing and found gun pellets on the ground. A core of demonstrators had heaved aside a concrete barrier blocking a main road near the ministry overnight to get closer to the building.
"We pulled it down with our bare hands," said Abdul-Ghani Mohamed, a 32-year-old construction worker. "We are the sons of the pharaohs."
Ambulances had to intervene overnight to extract riot police whose truck took a wrong turn into a street full of protesters.
Police fired round after round of teargas but the wind picked up yesterday afternoon to send fumes back to the police lines, leading protesters to cry "God is Greatest."
Close to 400 people have been hurt in the confrontations since Thursday, according to the Health Ministry, many of them by inhaling tear gas.
An army lieutenant was killed by a security vehicle that accidentally ran over him, Health Ministry officials said.
Hardcore football fans known as "ultras," vowed to continue their protests.
In Suez, witnesses said fighting broke out at a local police station in the early hours of yesterday. "We received two corpses of protesters shot dead by live ammunition," said a doctor at a city morgue.
Shops were wrecked and the facade of the Suez Canal Bank destroyed.
The soccer stadium deaths have heaped new criticism on the military council that has governed Egypt since Mubarak stepped down.
Health officials said at least 1,000 people were hurt in Port Said when fans invaded the pitch after local team al-Masry beat Cairo's Al Ahli,
Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said fans started it by provoking each other.
A demonstrator and an army officer were reported dead in Cairo and in the city of Suez two people were killed as police used live rounds to hold back crowds trying to break into a police station, the ambulance authority said.
Most of those killed in the Port Said football stadium on Wednesday night were crushed in a stampede and the government declared three days of mourning, but protesters hold the military-led authorities responsible.
It was country's deadliest incident since an uprising ousted Hosni Mubarak almost a year ago and it gave fresh impetus to regular street protests against Egypt's ruling generals.
"We will stay until we get our rights. Did you see what happened in Port Said?" said 22-year-old protester Abu Hanafy.
The ministry in Cairo, an object of hatred for football fans who say lax policing was to blame for the disaster, has been hemmed in by the street battles since Thursday.
Thousands were still battling riot police there and more protesters were expected to gather for a "Friday of Anger" declared by 28 youth groups and political parties.
Witnesses heard firing and found gun pellets on the ground. A core of demonstrators had heaved aside a concrete barrier blocking a main road near the ministry overnight to get closer to the building.
"We pulled it down with our bare hands," said Abdul-Ghani Mohamed, a 32-year-old construction worker. "We are the sons of the pharaohs."
Ambulances had to intervene overnight to extract riot police whose truck took a wrong turn into a street full of protesters.
Police fired round after round of teargas but the wind picked up yesterday afternoon to send fumes back to the police lines, leading protesters to cry "God is Greatest."
Close to 400 people have been hurt in the confrontations since Thursday, according to the Health Ministry, many of them by inhaling tear gas.
An army lieutenant was killed by a security vehicle that accidentally ran over him, Health Ministry officials said.
Hardcore football fans known as "ultras," vowed to continue their protests.
In Suez, witnesses said fighting broke out at a local police station in the early hours of yesterday. "We received two corpses of protesters shot dead by live ammunition," said a doctor at a city morgue.
Shops were wrecked and the facade of the Suez Canal Bank destroyed.
The soccer stadium deaths have heaped new criticism on the military council that has governed Egypt since Mubarak stepped down.
Health officials said at least 1,000 people were hurt in Port Said when fans invaded the pitch after local team al-Masry beat Cairo's Al Ahli,
Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said fans started it by provoking each other.
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