Thousands of students, football ultras and family members of prisoners have shut down the Port Said governorate building and temporarily blocked the Cairo-Port Said railway line after activists called for a civil disobedience campaign.
Protesters, many of whom are also relatives of those killed during a wave of violent clashes in the city last month, also headed to the Port Said Harbor Authority Building and shut it down after ordering employees out of the building. National Railway Authority head Hussein Zakaria also said that protesters, many of whom are ultras supporting the local Al-Masry Club, briefly blocked the railway at a level crossing.
Zakaria later added that the railway had been reopened and that train traffic was moving normally.
An armored vehicle and three CSF vehicles blocked entrance to the central garden facing the governorate building and attempted to drive through the rally, with protesters responding by throwing stones. One protester was hit by one of the vehicles but was uninjured.
The city's chamber of commerce was closed for the day, and parents kept their children home from school.
The protests come after about 40 people were killed during clashes between security forces and protesters last month in Port Said. Clashes broke out in the city after a court sentenced 21 defendants in the Port Said football violence trial to death for their role in the deaths of 72 Ahly Club fans during a February 2012 match in the city.
As a result of the clashes, President Mohamed Morsy initially imposed curfew and state of emergency in Port Said and other governorates along the Suez Canal for one month, before allowing governors to reduce or cancel curfews.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
