Four die during clashes in Egypt over deadly soccer riot

Four die during clashes in Egypt over deadly soccer riot

2012-02-04 11:04:25 GMT+7 (ICT)

CAIRO, EGYPT (BNO NEWS) -- Four people have died during ongoing clashes with Egyptian security forces as protesters have rallied across the country against the military regime, local media reported on Friday.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets on Thursday after 74 football fans died in a riot in Port Said, demanding justice and urging Egypt's military rulers to step down. Two protesters were killed in the port city of Suez after security forces used live rounds while defending a police station. Another protester died from pellet wounds sustained outside the Ministry of Interior in Cairo, officials said.

Meanwhile, the assistant health minister, Adel El-Adawy, announced that an army officer was killed after being run over by a military truck. An estimated 1,482 people have been injured since Thursday, most of them suffering from the effects of tear gas inhalation.

The Al-Ahram newspaper reported that approximately 1,000 protesters gathered on Friday in Cairo's Tahrir Square, chanting against the military council and for justice for those who have died. The sound of shots and ambulance sirens ferrying the injured to nearby field hospitals filled the air before Friday prayers.

On Wednesday evening, 74 people were killed and more than 300 others were injured when violent clashes erupted following a soccer match in Port Said. Security forces were widely accused of deliberately declining to intervene in the country's deadliest ever football riot.

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