2 soccer players among 27 dead in Egypt port city

CAIRO (AP) — The director of hospitals in Egypt's Mediterranean city of Port Said says two soccer players are among the 27 people killed in riots there.

Violence erupted in Port Said after a judge sentenced 21 people to death in connection with a Feb. 1 soccer melee that killed 74 fans of the Cairo-based Al-Ahly team.

Dr. Abdel-Raham Farah says Mahmoud Abdel-Halim al-Dizawi, a soccer player in Port Said's Al-Marikh club, was shot three times and died.

He says Tamer al-Fahla, a soccer player who used to play for the city's main Al-Masry team, was also shot dead on his way to Al-Marikh club.

The club is near a prison residents tried to storm Saturday to free defendants in the soccer trial. The military has been deployed to try and restore security.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.