Cairo: The officials of Police Prosecutor had said that twenty-two people were killed outside an Egyptian soccer stadium on Sunday when security forces barred fans from entering.
Doctors and witnesses said that most of the dead were suffocated when the crowd stampeded after police used tear gas to clear the fans trying to force their way into a league match between two Cairo clubs, Zamalek and Enppi.
A spokesperson of Health Ministry said on phone that the final toll was 19 dead and 20 injured.
Meanwhile reason for the discrepancy in numbers between the health ministry and the public prosecutor’s office was not immediately clear.
Notify that soccer matches are often a flashpoint for violence in Egypt where 72 fans were killed at a match in Port Said in February 2012.
Since then Egypt has curbed the number of people allowed to attend, and supporters have often tried to storm stadiums they are banned from entering.
Scores of youths wearing Zamalek T-shirts appeared shocked as families arrived to see if their relatives were safe outside the Cairo hospital where injured were getting treatment.
Relations between security forces and fan groups known as Ultras have been tense since the 2011 popular uprising that ended the rule of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, in which the Ultras played a key role.
The interior ministry said, “Huge numbers of Zamalek club fans came to Air Defense Stadium to attend the match … and tried to storm the stadium gates by force, which prompted the troops to prevent them from continuing the assault.”
Official media had reported that public prosecution ordered the arrest of the leaders of the Zamalek supporters group, Ultras White Knights, after Sunday’s incident.
The Ultras White Knights had described the 22 dead as “martyrs” and accused security forces of a “massacre” on their Facebook page.
The match went ahead and ended with a 1-1 draw despite the violence.
Bureau Report
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