Two soccer players among 27 dead in Egypt riots

Cairo: 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 February 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 on Saturday to free defendants in the soccer trial. The military has been deployed to try and restore security.