Roundup: Egypt suspends soccer league matches after 19 dies in riots

Egypt's cabinet has suspended the soccer league competition indefinitely after 19 people were killed in riots outside a soccer stadium late Sunday.

The deaths occurred ahead of a game between Egyptian Premier League clubs Zamalek and ENPPI at Air Defense Stadium east of the capital Cairo.

The victims suffered either suffocation or severe cruises as a result of stampede after police used tear gas to disperse a crowd, the Health Ministry said Monday.

The government, in a statement late Sunday, blamed the fans for initiating the clashes with police, leading to the fatalities.

"Thousands of fans without tickets refused security measures of inspection and scaled the stadium walls in an attempt to it break into it," according to the statement.

Some fans also blocked a road leading to the stadium, torched three police vehicles and vandalized several private and public buildings, it added.

"Because of these regrettable incidents, it has been decided to postpone the league to a time that will be set later," it said.

For the first time, a match between domestic teams had been open to the public, since stadium riots in Port Said in 2012 left more than 70 people dead.

The Interior Ministry, after a meeting with the Egyptian Football Association members in 2014, had restricted to 10,000 the number of spectators allowed into a stadium, in a gradual move to make all the spectators attend the matches.

The Health Ministry said in a statement on Monday the final toll was 19 dead and 20 injured.

"Huge numbers of Zamalek club fans came to Air Defense Stadium to attend the match ... and tried to storm the stadium gates by force, which prompted the troops to prevent them from continuing the assault," the Interior Ministry said Sunday.

The Public Prosecution ordered the arrest of the leaders of the Ultras White Knights, the hardcore fans of Zamalek, after Sunday's incident, official news agency MENA reported.

Some of the victims' parents accused the police of killing their sons after firing tear gas while the gatherings were blocked in a very narrow metal cage for inspection outside the stadium, and others said the police fired birdshot.

The prosecution said on Monday that the initial investigations proved that the dead were found to have no gunshot wounds. Injuries were consistent with being crushed in a stampede.

On their Facebook page, the White Knights described the dead as "martyrs" and accused security forces of committing a "massacre."

Despite the violence, the match continued and ended with a 1-1 draw, which angered the fans.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi mourned on Monday the victims, and pressed for a quick probe into the incident.

So far, 17 people were arrested over the violence, the interior ministry said. Endit