We had better send more money to Egypt fast!
'People are dying in front of us': Scores killed in riots after Egypt soccer match
 AFP-Getty Images
Egyptian football fans rush to the field during clashes after a football match in Port Said
By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services
Updated 5:25 p.m. ET:
CAIRO -- Soccer fans stampeded the field and rioted Wednesday after a match between fierce rivals in the port city of Port Said, attacking each other with fists, stones, fireworks and bottles. More than 70 people were killed and at least 1,000 injured in one of the worst incidents of sports violence in Egypt's history.
The melee broke out after fans of Al-Masry, the home team in Port Said, stormed the field after a rare 3-1 win against Al-Ahly, Egypt's top team. Al-Masry supporters hurled sticks and stones as they chased players and fans from the rival team, who ran toward the exits to escape, according to witnesses.
State TV footage showed Al-Ahly players rushing for their locker room as fistfights broke out among the crowd. Some men had to rescue a manager from the losing team as he was being beaten. Black-clothed police officers stood by, appearing overwhelmed.
Rival fans shot firebombs and fireworks and threw stones, bottles and other objects at each other and some players.
A health ministry official in Port Said said at least 73 people were killed. Hundreds of people were injured.
Hesham Sheiha, a health ministry official, told state TV, most of the deaths were caused by concussions, deep cuts to the heads and suffocation from the stampede.
YouTube video of soccer violence
Witnesses and officials in Port Said, a city on the Mediterranean coast, said some of the dead were security officers and policemen.
"This is unfortunate and deeply saddening. It is the biggest disaster in Egypt's soccer history," deputy health minister Hesham Sheiha told state television. The players were later taken to the locker room for protection, Sayed Hamdi, a player, told state TV.
At least 47 people were arrested in connection with the melee, Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said.
Egypt Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the head of the country's ruling military council, ordered two helicopters be sent to Port Said to evacuate Ahly team members and injured fans.
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Witnesses said trouble broke out when Ahly fans unfurled banners insulting Port Said and an Ahly supporter descended onto the field carrying an iron bar. Thousands of Al-Masry fans reacted by pouring onto the field and attacking Ahly players. They then turned to the stands to attack Ahli supporters.
Most of the deaths were among people who were trampled in the crush of the panicking crowd or who fell from the stands, witnesses said.
Live television coverage showed fans running onto the field and chasing Ahli players. A small group of riot police formed a corridor to try to protect the players, but they appeared overwhelmed and fans were still able to kick and punch the players as they fled.
Ahly player Mohamed Abo Treika likened the violence as war.
"This is not football. This is a war and people are dying in front of us. There is no movement and no security and no ambulances," he told the Ahly television channel. "I call for the premier league to be canceled. This is horrible situation and today can never be forgotten."
"One of the fans died in the dressing room,” Ahmed Nagi, an Ahly goalkeeping coach, said on Egyptian state television. “And there are thousands of wounded lying in the hallways.”
Ahly’s panicked players flooded the club’s in-house television channel with phone calls to speak about the post-match horror, Egyptian news site Ahram Online reported.
“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, according to Ahram Online.
“People have died, we are seeing corpses now. There are no security forces or army personnel to protect us,” attacking midfielder Mohamed Barakat added, according to the news site.
Soon after the violence, another scheduled soccer game in Cairo between the Al-Ismailiya and Zamalek teams was called off in mourning for the violence in Port Said. Egyptian state TV showed protesters setting fire to Cairo Stadium by angry fans. Flames roared from the upper decks.
Al-Ahly fans, known as the Ultra Ahlys, gathered in protest outside the clubs office in Cairo.
Deep divisions
Politics cuts deep across soccer teams in Egypt and their fans. Al-Ahly's fans have been at the forefront of the revolution that overthrew longtime leader Hosni Mubarak a year ago, leading chants and protests against the military.
Related: List of fatal disasters at soccer stadiums around the world Albadry Farghali, a member of parliament for Port Said, accused officials and security forces of allowing the disaster, saying they still had ties to the government of Mubarak.
"The security forces did this or allowed it to happen. The men of Mubarak are still ruling. The head of the regime has fallen but all his men are still in their positions," he screamed in a telephone call to live television.
"Where is the security? Where is the government?"
Egypt's general prosecutor has ordered an immediate investigation into the Port Said violence, NBC News reported.
The parliament said it will hold an emergency session Thursday to discuss the riot.
The governor of Port Said, Ahmed Abdullah, submitted his resignation following the deadly violence, NBC News reported. Port Said's director of security, Gen. Essam Samak, was suspended pending further investigation by the Ministry of Interior.
Egypt's Football Association Executive Committee was holding an emergency session to discuss whether to suspend the remainder of the season.
It was the deadliest incident of soccer violence since Oct. 16, 1996, when at least 78 people died and 180 others were injured in a stampede at a stadium in Guatemala City before a World Cup qualifying match between Guatemala and Costa Rica.
The worst soccer disaster on record occurred on May 24, 1964, in Lima, Peru, when more than 300 fans were killed and more than 500 injured during riot and panic following unpopular ruling by a referee in a Peru vs. Argentina match.
NBC News' Ayman Mohyeldin, msnbc.com staff, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
To see some of the violence see the two videos.
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