Many Egyptians, from the public to lawmakers, on Thursday blamed the police and the country's ruling military for failing to prevent rioting among fans that resulted in the world's worst soccer violence in 15 years.

A narrow stadium exit turned into a postgame death trap Wednesday as crowds of fans fleeing armed supporters of the winning team rushed into the corridor, only to be crushed against a locked gate, their rivals attacking from behind, survivors and witnesses said.

The carnage: At least 74 people crushed, suffocated or stabbed to death in the Mediterranean coastal city of Port Said, and hundreds injured.

"Layers of people" were "stuck over each other because there was no other exit," Ahmed Ghaffar, a fan, tweeted Thursday. "We were between two choices, either death coming from behind us, or the closed doors."

Wednesday's events in Port Said demonstrate the depth of the state of tension that has seized Egypt, Brent Latham writes. Story

Egypt prime minister Kamal el-Ganzouri, in an emergency parliamentary session Thursday, announced he had dissolved the Egyptian Football Association's board and referred its members for questioning by prosecutors about the violence.

Protests continued in Cairo, near Tahrir Square, the epicenter of last year's popular uprising that ousted former leader Hosni Mubarak. Demonstrators threw stones at police, who responded with tear gas.

The riot at the stadium in Port Said erupted Wednesday when fans of the local team, Al-Masry, stormed the field following a rare 3-1 win against Al-Ahly, one of Egypt's most popular and successful clubs.

Al-Masry supporters, armed with knives, sticks and stones, chased Al-Ahly players and fans, who ran toward the exits and up the stands to escape, according to witnesses.

Lines of riot police in the stadium largely did nothing to intervene, witnesses said. At one point, the stadium lights went out, plunging it into darkness. At the time, the TV sportscaster announcing the match said authorities shut them off to "calm the situation."

Some are accusing police of allowing the riot to happen out of vengeance against the Ultras -- die-hard soccer fans who are bitter enemies of the police and have been among the most aggressive protesters in the past year.

The Ultras, backers of the Al-Ahly club, were at the forefront of violent protests a year ago that led to the collapse of the police force, and in more recent months, they have clashed with soldiers during rallies demanding an end to military rule.

Mahmoud Ibrahim, 22, a survivor who on Thursday was at a Cairo morgue where two of his dead friends were taken, said that after the lights went out, people were left "to kill each other."

He ran into the corridor. "We went down trying to get out and everyone was pushing. Under me was more than three people and I am being pushed. Everyone is pushing trying to breathe," he said.

One Al-Masry fan, Mohammed Mosleh, posted his account of the scene on Facebook, saying he saw "thugs with weapons" in the stadium.

"This was unbelievable," he said. "We were supposed to be celebrating, not killing people. We defeated Al-Ahly, something I saw twice only in my lifetime. All the people were happy. Nobody expected this."

Health ministry official Hisham Sheha said the deaths were caused by stabs by sharp tools, brain hemorrhage and concussions. "All those carried to hospitals were already dead bodies," Sheha told state TV.

TV footage showed Al-Ahly players rushing for their locker room as fistfights broke out among the hundreds of fans swarming the field.

The stadium riot came on the one-year anniversary of one of the most violent days of the 18-day anti-Mubarak uprising. On Feb. 2, 2011, in what became known as the "Battle of the Camel," Mubarak loyalists on camels and horses attacked protesters at Tahrir Square, leading to nearly two days of battles with rocks, firebombs and slabs of concrete.

Al-Ahly players Mohamed Aboutrika, Emad Moteab and Mohamed Barakat -- all members of the Egypt national team -- announced they were retiring from soccer after witnessing the rampage.

Al-Ahly coach Manuel Jose, who is returning home to Portugal after "going through a bad psychological situation," told the team's website that he was "beaten with fists and kicks to the neck, head and feet."

Al-Ahly assistant coach Pedro Barny said it was a "state of madness."

"We tried to save the lives of some of the fans, but many died before our eyes," Barny said.