A march led by football Ultras and political groups to protest the killing of 71 people at the Masry v Ahly match in Port Said on Wednesday, have briefly pelted police guarding the interior ministry. The latter did not reply.

The stone throwing, which began on Thursday afternoon, has ceased but thousands of protesters remain at the ministry and the atmosphere is tense.

A number of MPs, including Amr Hamzawy and Ziad El-Eleimy, have joined the protesters in an effort to prevent an escalation in violence.

Many protesters on the original march remained in Tahrir Square, rather than continue to the interior ministry, due to fears that clashes between police and protesters could erupt at any moment, reports an Ahram Online journalist at the scene.

Barbed wire barriers are separating protesters from the security forces, while some protesters have formed a human shield between the two sides and are chanting "peaceful, peaceful."

Thousands of protesters participated in several marches that converged at the Ahly Sporting Club on Thursday afternoon before proceeding to Tahrir Square and the interior ministry.