The home team, Al-Masry, secured a rare 3-1 victory against the country’s top team, Al-Ahly.
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The Egyptian army was being airlifted in by helicopter to rescue stranded players who became trapped in the changing rooms
Egyptian fans clash with riot police after a shock result in the country's premier league
'This is not football, this is a war and people are dying': More than 70 dead and 1,000 injured after pitch invasion in Egypt
At least 74 football fans were killed and hundreds injured after a pitch invasion in Egypt last night.
Trouble flared after a match in the city of Port Said when armed fans surged forward seconds after the final whistle.
Police struggled to keep order as chaos erupted in the stadium
According to officials, Al-Masry fans carrying knives swarmed on to the pitch, throwing stones, fireworks and bottles at rival fans, players and security officers.
Most of the victims are believed to have died from suffocation or head injuries, with some cornered in the stadium as parts of it were set on fire. The two teams have a long history of bad blood.
The Egypt Football Association ordered an indefinite suspension of its premier league and Egypt’s state prosecutor has ordered an immediate investigation.
One witness to the Egypt riot said people threw stones, sticks and bottles at their rivals and injured some players. The witness was speaking on condition of anonymity because he feared retribution.
Children were seen among the crowds at the stadium of Port Said as violence broke out
Television pictures showed fans swarming over the pitch after a match in the Egyptian city of Port Said
Hesham Sheiha, Egypt's deputy health minister, said the riot was the 'biggest disaster in Egypt's soccer history'
Most of the victims are believed to have died from suffocation or head injuries, with some cornered in the stadium as parts of it were set on fire
He said the atmosphere was already tense in the field before the game as one Al-Ahly fan raised a banner insulting supporters of the home team.
Security forces in Egypt had been keeping a lower profile since last year’s popular protests that ousted President Hosni Mubarak from power, allowing fans to smuggle knives into the stadium.
The riot also threatened to destabilise the country once more.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the most powerful party in Egypt’s parliament, blamed supporters of the deposed Mubarak regime for promoting violence at the match as a way to bring back chaos to Egypt.
Reaction: Egypt's state prosecutor ordered an immediate investigation into the violence, and the Egypt Football Association ordered an indefinite suspension of the annual championship
Warring fans flee from a fire in the stadium as dozens were killed and more than 1,000 left injured
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2095070/Egypt-football-violence-More-70-dead-1-000-injured-pitch-invasion.html#ixzz1lDVhdqoZ
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