File photo from the Port-Said stadium deadly football violence in February (Photo: Reuters)
Egypt's health ministry confirms one dead and sixty-five injured in violent clashes between Masry football club fans and army forces late Friday night.
Official sources confirmed that the dead 13-year-old boy, along with two of the injured, were from gunshot wounds, according to Reuters.
Hundreds of protesters attempted to break into the Suez Canal administrative headquarters in the city to protest the sanctions announced against the club by the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) Thursday.
Eyewitnesses reportedly said the protesters who attempted to break into the building threw rocks at the military police forces posted to secure the building. Military police then fired tear gas at the protest as well as rounds of gunfire in the air to disperse them. Many injuries were from suffocation by tear gas, according to the health ministry source.
In an escalation, dozens of protesters blocked the access roads leading to Port Said's industrial complex Saturday morning and prevented thousands of factory workers from entering the district.
Ultras El-Masry group, who organised the Friday demonstration, released a statement on their official Facebook page (Ultras Green Eagles - Uge) Friday night saying that they have withdrawn from the march on the Suez Canal administration after describing the clashes as a "trap" set by military authorities to instigate violence inside the protest.
EFA's sanctions, announced Friday, came as a response to the country's worst football disaster, where at least 74 fans died and hundreds were injured when a stampede of Masry fans stormed the Port Said stadium field. The ill-tempered Egyptian Premier League match ended with an attack by Masry fans against a large group of Ahly fans that had come to root for their team in the away game in Port Said on 1 February.
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