At least 19 people were killed in Cairo, authorities told The New York Times, after a clash between police and a football club went awry.
Supporters of a football club Zamalek clashed with Egyptian police before a match, al-Ahram and al-Arabiya reported. A medical source at the hospital told Ahram Online the fans died of suffocation from tear gas and a stampede.
The clash began before the match between the Zamalek Ultras and ENPPI started. Ahram Online called it the worst football-related incident since the Port Said incident three years ago, when a riot at an Egyptian League football match led to 74 deaths and two officers receiving 15-year prison sentences for negligence.
Egypt's public prosecutor ordered an investigation into the violence.
“The Zamalek fans tried to get in by force, and we had to prevent them from damaging public property,” the Egyptian interior ministry said in a statement. Only 5,000 tickets were on sale to the public, according to Ahram Online, the rest being distributed by the club itself, with 10,000 fans total being allowed into the stadium. The New York Times reported that the stadium has the capacity for about 30,000 people.
The Guardian reported that the conflict began when fans started showing up at the Air Defence Stadium without tickets. The Ultras White Knights fans said they were being tear-gassed as they scrambled to get in, according to the Guardian, and the only gate open for them was a “tiny metal fence surrounded by barbed wire.”
"You do not understand anything. You are not allowed to get in by force," Zamalek board member Ahmed Mansour said on his Facebook page. "No one will be allowed to attend the match without tickets."
The clash comes at a time when Egyptian police are facing heavy scrutiny, after the shooting of a female protester and crackdowns on demonstrations.
