More Killing in Cairo as Protesters Confront Authorities over Soccer Riot

Yet another Friday in Cairo's Tahrir Square turned into a day of bloodshed as protesters outraged by the killing of 74 soccer fans in a stadium riot on Tuesday, Jan. 31 — for which they blame authorities — clashed with police.

Throughout Thursday night and Friday, protesters battling to reach the Ministry of the Interior skirmished with police, breaking down barricades and pushing forward through volleys of tear gas and rubber bullets. "It was like a war," said a young doctor who had spent the night working at one of at least five field hospitals set up in Tahrir to treat the wounded. He declined to give his name for fear of retribution from the police. "We didn't sleep at all," said another. "In just this tent, we had 500 people in eight hours. It started with tear gas, then wounds from stones. And after that it was shotgun pellets." Four people have died and more than 1,500 have been injured in major cities across the country since protests broke out on Thursday, according to the Associated Press.(PHOTOS: Egyptian Protests Continue After Deadly Soccer Riot)

The protests began after an incident in a soccer stadium in the coastal city of Port Said, where a riot broke out at the end of match, leaving 74 people dead — most of them fans of the popular Cairo team al-Ahly. Medical officials say most of the deaths resulted from a stampede toward the stadium's locked exits, as fans and players from al-Ahly surged in desperation to escape supporters of the home team, al-Masry, who attacked them with sticks and knives.

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