Deaths at football match

[Whitedesert]

Dying for democracy and freedom in or around Tahrir square is noble, and altough I hesitate to say worth dying for, it is nevertheless a selfless act for a greater cause beyound yourself. This is different. This was testosterone overloaded young men low on intellegence, and seriously stupid with nothing to do and too much time on there hands to do it in. A complete waste of life, and seriously damaging the sportmanship aspects of this once noble game of soccer/football. I am not a soccer fan, being born in a commonweatlh country mad about Rugby and Cricket, but I still acknowledge that soccer is the largest and most supported game in the world and this is so sad a refection on the game.

[Gounie]

What happened in Port Said as told by @Heemalization English version « That Art of Chaos..

Here is what was said:
@Heemalization English version

From day one we’re trying to calm people down, and we knew a problem would happen. We kept repeating that we made a statement and this time is too critical for any of that; and many of the older members of the UA07 (Ahly Ultras) were telling the younger ones to maintain self control.

Out train was thrown by rocks in Ismailia and that we were used to. It is the norm for the train or bus to be attacked when it is on its way from one province to another. The train broke down so we went down in a train station in “Al Cap” before Port Said in order to ride buses that will take us to Port Said because we knew that they prepared an ambush for us at the train station.

We got to Port Said from the buses entrance area and the rock throwing on the buses hasn’t stopped all the way to the stadium. All of this was still very normal and happens whenever we travel.

On our way into the stadium we heared that the “Masry” (Port Said team) fans attacked the Ahly players’ bus and injured Said Muawad with fireworks. In the first half of the match both parties (Ahly Ultras) and (Masry fans) were chanting hostile slogans as usual and then they started exchanging fireworks.

We started seeing “Masry” fans break into the stadium very easily from many sides of it; it increased after the first half of the game and they threw missiles at us. The only thing the police did was take them away without arresting any of those that the missiles on the “Ahly” fans. The missiles kept coming our way throughout the whole second half.

The moment the referee whistled to declare the ending of the game, the pitch was attacked in a very bizarre way from two sides; one towards the players to hit them and the other towards the “Ahly” fans in the bleachers. At this very same moment the lights went off and the stadium turned black, at that time there were two CSF security cordons along the “Ahly” bleachers and all of a sudden the cordon was opened for the “Masry” fans to go up the bleachers and attack the “Ahly” fans.

They went from the bleachers’ bottom doors that were open and went up very easily in huge numbers; not less than 2000/3000. We were in shock that the police let them do that very easily and that such large numbers are attacking us! Usually it would be swearing, fireworks and rock-throwing; it is what we do in football but that is it!

The people attacking us were armed with batons, knives, rocks, glass, firworks and all kinds of weapons that would be used in more than a football trouble.

When we saw these numbers we knew we wouldn’t be able to deal with all of them; so we started running towards the hallways that take us to the doors in order to exit the stadium. These hallways should’ve been opened for us to leave but they were closed by the army from the outside. The area between the doors of these hallways and the main exit gates had army soldiers and we were locked in. Not even able to escape. We were Besieged in the hallway and we had two choices; either die inside or outside because even if were able to make it outside the people of Port Said were waiting for us there at the main gate.

90% of the “Ahly” fans were crammed in the 6*6*10 meter; they were crammed layers on top of each other and there is no other exit and from the other side the “Masry” fans beating up everyone in their way, even the ones that fell that entirely taking place on our bleachers. It wasn’t only hitting, no. It was hitting and stealing especially phones, money and the UA07 shirts and the numbers of people in the hallways kept increasing.

Although, not everyone went down into that hallway, some people tried to jump over the fence either because they were pushed or scared. The door of the hallways fell because of all the pushing and many as people started coming out a lot of stampeding and running over others was taking place. A group went to the players’ locker room and I saw a dead man before my eyes. The people started saving each other because there was no ambulance; everyone was eventually out after about an hour.

The fool was basically made up of shoes, bags, batons, t-shirts and the fiber ceiling of the hallway was broken and fell. The interference of the CSF started taking place after 20 minutes of the riots’ start after people were already dead and after “Masry” fans started running away. After all that the army started shooting in the air on the outside in order to disperse the “Masry” fans that were waiting outside for the “Ahly” fans to come out.

Most injuries are fractures, wounds and burns from the rocks, glass and fireworks and many suffocation cases most of it being deaths.

What happened today is either planned or has been facilitated, there is no other scenario it was a lot more than just football troubles that all the Ultras and football fans know about. What I saw today was worse than what I saw in Mohammed Mahmoud, all that happened was above anyone’s imagination.

On our way back in the train people were insisting that what happened was planned and the unharmed of us was chanting at every station against the police.

We as a whole (UA07) will make our decision and make a statement on our official facebook page: Ultras Ahlawy - UA07 | Facebook

[hhaddad]

Three days of national mourning have been declared in Egypt after at least 74 people died in clashes between rival football fans in the city of Port Said.
Hundreds more were injured as fans invaded the pitch after a match between top-tier clubs al-Masry and al-Ahly.
Emergency meetings of the cabinet and parliament have been called.
Angry crowds closed off Cairo's Tahrir Square and state TV on Thursday morning, ahead of protests to complain of police handling of the riots.
The demonstrators used metal barriers and vehicles to close the square. There will be a march on the Interior Ministry later.
"People are angry at the regime more than anything else... People are really angry, you could see the rage in their eyes," al-Ahly supporter Mohammed Abdel Hamid told the BBC.
Funerals are expected to be held after noon (10:00 GMT) prayers in Port Said.
All Egyptian premier-league matches have been postponed indefinitely.
Continue reading the main story Analysis

Jon Leyne BBC News, Cairo
Even as the violence was continuing at the Port Said football ground, Egyptians began suspecting, wondering if darker forces were at play.
The Muslim Brotherhood, now the largest party in parliament, accused remnants of the Mubarak regime of deliberately provoking the riot in an attempt to reduce the country to chaos.
Egyptian football fans can be notoriously violent. But what immediately aroused suspicions is the fact that the al-Ahly supporters, known as Ultras, have become a political force as well. They have been at the forefront of many of the big confrontations with the security forces in the last year.
What really happened at the Port Said stadium may never fully be known. It's just as likely to have been a case of incompetence, from a police force which has been seriously under strength since they were chased off the streets in the revolution a year ago.
The immediate danger for the Egyptian authorities is of new violence, as angry football supporters take to the streets once again. But this has also provoked a new political crisis, undermining trust in the ruling military council, at a time when Egypt is moving towards presidential elections and the handover to civilian rule.

Hundreds gathered at Cairo's main railway station to receive the injured and the first bodies arriving from Port Said, with some chanting slogans against military rule.
"Everyone was beating us. They were beating us from inside and outside, with fireworks, stones, metal bars, and some had knives, I swear," one fan told a private TV station.
Army units were deployed in Port Said and joined police patrols around morgues and hospitals, but most streets had no police presence.
The army has set up checkpoints at entrances to the city.
Port Said security chief Essam Samak was sacked after the riot, state media said.
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of Egypt's ruling army council, went to an airbase near Cairo to meet al-Ahly players who were flown back from Port Said on a military aircraft.
"This will not bring Egypt down... These incidents happen anywhere in the world. We will not let those behind it go," he said, according to the Associated Press news agency.
It is the biggest disaster in the country's football history, said the Egyptian deputy health minister.
"This is unfortunate and deeply saddening," Hesham Sheiha told state television, adding that many people died in a stampede as people tried to leave the stadium.
Some of the dead were security officers, AP quoted a morgue official as saying.
BBC News - Egypt football riot: Three days' mourning for dozens killed

[CatMandoo]

So this was all "a political manuever", and not team rivalry at it's absolute lowest level?

When I was watching television footage of what happened on the field, I was totally shocked to see police in full riot gear, just STANDING there while everyone rushed the fields!

[hhaddad]

A march led by football Ultras and political groups to protest the killing of 71 people at the Masry v Ahly match in Port Said on Wednesday, have briefly pelted police guarding the interior ministry. The latter did not reply. The stone throwing, which began on Thursday afternoon, has ceased but thousands of protesters remain at the ministry and the atmosphere is tense.
A number of MPs, including Amr Hamzawy and Ziad El-Eleimy, have joined the protesters in an effort to prevent an escalation in violence.
Many protesters on the original march remained in Tahrir Square, rather than continue to the interior ministry, due to fears that clashes between police and protesters could erupt at any moment, reports an Ahram Online journalist at the scene.
Barbed wire barriers are separating protesters from the security forces, while some protesters have formed a human shield between the two sides and are chanting "peaceful, peaceful."
Thousands of protesters participated in several marches that converged at the Ahly Sporting Club on Thursday afternoon before proceeding to Tahrir Square and the interior ministry.

[MaidenScotland]

I heard chanting but could not see anything despite going up to the roof,
Traffic was flowing normally although cars entering Gezerah turned around and used the exit slipway to re enter the bridge.

[Maireadhoey]

Breaking news live on sky, it's a mess, tear gas, motorcycle ambulances, and they are tearing down Mohamed Mahmoud wall.
The hidden hands, foreign fingers and alien armies....hard to know who will be blamed
So so sad


http:// irisheyesoncairo@wordpress.com/

[MaidenScotland]

Originally Posted by Maireadhoey

Breaking news live on sky, it's a mess, tear gas, motorcycle ambulances, and they are tearing down Mohamed Mahmoud wall.
The hidden hands, foreign fingers and alien armies....hard to know who will be blamed
So so sad


http:// irisheyesoncairo@wordpress.com/

ohh yes someone will be blamed but not those responsible

[aykalam]

Groundhog Day

[MaidenScotland]

my facebook has gone down... keeps timing out coincidence I hope