The Egyptian parliament is due to hold an emergency session today in response to the violence that killed at least 74 people in Port Said, following a soccer match between premier league teams, Masry and Ahly on Wednesday.

by our top partner Allafrica.com

The Egyptian daily online news service, Ahram Online said that thousands of Masry fans stormed the pitch immediately after the final whistle, chasing Ahly players and technical staff members, who ran for their lives.

Shocked Ahly fans, who gathered at a local train station after the match, told Ahram Online that they blamed the reduced presence of security forces for the bloodshed. The police usually protect the players and separate the different fans gathered at league matches.

Other eyewitness accounts said the police appeared "overwhelmed".

Stampedes and suffocations
Ahram Online reported the manager of Port Said's El-Amiry hospital, Medhat El-Esnawy, saying that some people had died in the stampede while others died of suffocation and head injuries.

Ahly team members reportedly flooded the club's in-house television channel with phone calls after the match. Ahram Online quoted one Ahly player as saying: "The security forces left us, they did not protect us. One fan has just died in the dressing room in front of me."

Ahram Online reported a phone call from Ahly midfielder Mohamed Barakat in which he said, "There are no security forces or army personnel to protect us. It is our fault because we played that match. The authorities are afraid to cancel the league because they just care about money, they do not care about the lives of people."

Brotherhood blames Mubarak hooligans
According to the news agency Agence France Press (AFP), the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's leading political movement, has blamed the clashes on supporters of fallen president Hosni Mubarak. It said this latest outbreak followed a wave of incidents linked to poor security.

Ahram Online reports that the Ultras groups – that led the occupation of Tahrir Square a year ago demanding an end to former president Hosni Mubarak's almost 30-year rule – have called for mass marches today (Thursday) in protest against the behavior of the security forces.

Al Jazeera reports that 47 people have been arrested in connection with the violent pitch invasion. Egypt's Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said many of the victims had died in a crush of people at the stadium.
He told state television the search for suspects linked to the incident was continuing.

Egypt has announced three days of mourning for those who were killed during the pitch invasion.