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At least 38 fans die in football clashes in Port Said

Arab World Materials 1 February 2012 23:20 (UTC +04:00)
At least 38 supporters have died after thousands of Masry fans invaded the pitch following the team’s 3-1 Egyptian Premier League victory over Ahly on Wednesday, Ahram Online reported.
At least 38 fans die in football clashes in Port Said

At least 38 supporters have died after thousands of Masry fans invaded the pitch following the team's 3-1 Egyptian Premier League victory over Ahly on Wednesday, Ahram Online reported.

"There are 11 deaths at my hospital. Two other hospitals include 25 deaths. Three fans have also died in the stadium," Medhat El-Esnawy, the manager of Port Said's El-Amiry hospital, said in a television interview.

"Some died of stampede and others died of suffocation."

Ahly's panicked players flooded the club's in-house television channel with phone calls to speak about the post-match horror and call on authorities to intervene and protect them.

"The security forces left us, they did not protect us. One fan has just died in the dressing room in front of me," veteran playmaker Mohamed Abou-Treika screamed in a phone call with the club's channel.

"People have died, we are seeing corpses now. There are no security forces or army personnel to protect us," attacking midfielder Mohamed Barakat added.

"It is our fault because we played that match. The authorities are afraid to cancel the league because they just care about money, they do not care about the lives of people."

Thousands of Masry fans stormed the pitch immediately after the final whistle, chasing Ahly players and technical staff members, who ran for their lives. They subsequently clashed with Ahly's visiting supporters as the melee escalated.

Later in the day, Zamalek's league game against Ismaily in Cairo was called off following the end of the first half upon the request of both teams.

The outer part of one of Cairo stadium's four stands caught fire. Fire brigades rushed to the scene to extinguish the fire.

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