Protests shut down Egyptian city for second day

Soccer fans demonstrate in Port Said, site of February 2012 massacre

PORT SAID, Egypt (AP) — Hundreds of anti-government protesters have blocked central roads and work was halted for a second day in Egypt’s restive coastal city of Port Said, the site of an unprecedented soccer massacre in 2012.

The protesters are angry over the killing of some 50 people during demonstrations last month against the death sentences for 21 people, mostly fans of the city’s soccer club Al-Masry, for their part in the Feb. 1, 2012, stadium violence that killed 74.

As part of a partial general strike under way in Port Said, local government employees, port customs and small businesses were shut on Monday. The city’s army-guarded university and banks remained open.

Port Said sits on the northern tip of the Suez Canal but the strikes have not disrupted shipping in the international waterway.