Dozens die during riot at football game

At least 25 people have been killed in a riot outside a major football game in Egypt.

The violence, only three years after similar violence killed 74 people, began ahead of a match between Egyptian Premier League clubs Zamalek and ENPPI at Air Defence Stadium outside of Cairo.

State TV, citing prosecutors, said the violence killed at least 25 people and that an investigation into the riot had begun. Zamalek fans said the death toll was likely to be higher.

What caused the violence was not immediately clear. Security officials said Zamalek fans tried to force their way into the match without tickets, sparking clashes.

Fans have only recently been allowed back at matches and the Interior Ministry planned to let only 10,000 fans into the stadium, which has a capacity of about 30,000, officials said.

Zamalek fans, known as White Knights, posted on their official Facebook page that the violence began because authorities only opened one narrow, barbed-wire door to let them in.

They said that sparked pushing and shoving that later saw police officers fire tear gas and birdshot.

The group later posted pictures on Facebook it claimed were of dead fans, including the names of people it said had been killed.

Egypt’s hard-core football fans, known as Ultras, frequently clash with police inside and outside of stadiums.

Many participated in the 2011 uprising that forced out president Hosni Mubarak.