Egyptians ranging from soccer fans to lawmakers blamed the country’s military rulers for a bloody post-match riot Thursday as anger mounted over the failure of police to stop the violence when a narrow stadium exit turned into a death trap in a seaside city north of the capital.

A network of soccer fans known as Ultras vowed vengeance, accusing the police of intentionally letting rivals attack them because they have been at the forefront of protests over the past year, first against former leader Hosni Mubarak and now the military.

Thousands of protesters converged on Cairo’s Tahrir Square – the epicenter of the uprising that ousted Mubarak last year – carrying the red flag of the city’s Al-Ahly soccer club and the national banner. They then marched to the nearby Interior Ministry to protest the police inaction and call for retribution for the 74 people who died in the world’s worst soccer violence in 15 years.

The protesters raised flags of Al-Ahly and Zamalek, another top team with its own Ultras group, and Egyptian flags. Some held black banners reading: “Mourning.”

Survivors and witnesses described people falling from the bleachers and other scenes of chaos after as fans from the local Al-Masry team in Port Said chased supporters of the visiting Al-Ahly club with knives, clubs and stones. Hundreds fled into the exit corridor, only to be crushed against a locked gate, their rivals attacking from behind.

“The lights went off. The doors of the corridor were locked and sealed with a chain,” said Sayyed Hassan, 22, who suffered a broken leg. He sat on the pavement with other mourners outside the morgue in Cairo, where many of the dead were taken.

“We weren’t able to get out. I don’t remember anything else,” he said, adding that he had lost his 25-year-old friend in the stampede.

The riot at the stadium in Port Said erupted when Al-Masry fans stormed the field following a rare 3-1 win against Al-Ahly, one of Egypt’s most popular clubs. Some Al-Ahly fans said they had hung banners making fun of Al-Masry supporters in Port Said before the game, apparently provoking the local fans to riot despite their victory.

Ultras who support Cairo’s Al-Ahly and Zamalek clubs have long been bitter enemies of the police who wielded wide-ranging powers under Mubarak-era emergency law. The fans’ anti-police songs, peppered with curses, usually go viral on the Internet, an expression of the hatred many Egyptians feel toward security forces.

CONTINUED at the Huffington Post.