Description
The Port Said Stadium riot was a riot which occurred at Port Said Stadium in Port Said, Egypt on 1 February 2012, following an Egyptian Premier League football match between Al Masry and Al Ahly. Seventy-four people were killed and more than 500 injured after thousands of Al Masry fans invaded the pitch following a 3–1 victory by their club. Al Ahly fans were attacked using clubs, stones, machetes, knives, bottles, and fireworks, trapping them inside the Al Ahly partition of the stadium. Many of the deaths were due to police refusal to open the stadium gates, trapping fans inside and causing a stampede. Civil unrest and clashes with police erupted in several major cities, such as Cairo, Alexandria, and Suez, in response to police's handling of the riot.