- The East Java stadium disaster appears to be the worst since 1964
- Around 180 injured during the mass stampede
- Indonesia’s football association suspends the league to investigate
- Police say they fired tear gas to control the crowd
MALANG, Indonesia, Oct 2 (Reuters) – As many as 174 people were killed and 180 injured in a stampede at a soccer stadium after police tried to quell violence on the field, authorities said on Sunday, in a of the worst stadium disasters in the world.
Officers fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse agitated supporters of the losing team who had invaded the pitch after the final whistle in Malang, East Java, on Saturday night, regional police chief Nico Afinta said to journalists
“It had become anarchic. They started attacking the officers, they damaged the cars,” Nico said, adding that the crush happened when the fans fled towards an exit door.
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East Java Deputy Governor Emil Dardak and the local disaster agency put the death toll at 174 on Sunday afternoon, but Emil later said that number may have included double fatalities. The local health agency has put the toll at 130.
There was confusion on Sunday about the death toll, which one official had put as high as 174, but the stadium disaster appeared to be the world’s worst in more than half a century.
Video footage from local news channels showed fans streaming onto the pitch after Arema FC lost 3-2 to Persebaya Surabaya at around 22:00 (1500 GMT), followed by brawls, and what they appeared to be clouds of tear gas and unconscious fans that had been carried out. the place.
Many victims at nearby Kanjuruhan Hospital suffered from trauma, difficulty breathing and lack of oxygen due to the large number of people affected by the tear gas at the scene, paramedic Boby Prabowo said.
The head of another hospital in the area told Metro TV that some victims had suffered brain injuries and that a five-year-old boy was among the victims.
President Joko Widodo said authorities must thoroughly assess security at matches, adding that he hoped this would be “the nation’s last football tragedy”.
Jokowi, as the president is known, ordered the Indonesian Football Association, PSSI, to suspend all matches in the BRI Ligue 1 league until an investigation was completed.
TEAR GAS RULES, OVER CAPACITY
World soccer’s governing body, FIFA, specifies in its safety rules that no firearms or “crowd control gas” should be carried or used by stewards or police.
East Java police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether they were aware of these regulations.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement to Reuters that the football world was “in shock after the tragic incidents that have taken place in Indonesia” and that the event was “a dark day for everyone involved.”
Fans invade the soccer field after a match between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya at the Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, Indonesia, October 2, 2022 in this screenshot taken from Reuters video. REUTERS TV via Reuters
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FIFA has requested a report on the incident from the PSSI, which has sent a team to Malang to investigate, said PSSI general secretary Yunus Nusi.
Indonesia’s human rights commission also plans to investigate security at the compound, including the use of tear gas, its commissioner told Reuters.
“Many of our friends lost their lives because of the officers who dehumanized us,” said 22-year-old Muhammad Rian Dwicahyono, crying as he nursed a broken arm at the local Kanjuruhan hospital. “A lot of lives have been wasted.”
On Sunday, mourners gathered outside the stadium gates to lay flowers for the victims.
Amnesty International Indonesia criticized the security measures, saying “the use of excessive force by the state… to contain or control these crowds cannot be justified at all.”
The country’s chief security minister, Mahfud MD, said in a post on Instagram that the stadium had been filled beyond capacity. About 42,000 tickets have been issued for a stadium designed for 38,000 people, he said.
THE WORST IN HALF A CENTURY
Financial aid would be given to the injured and the families of the victims, East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa told reporters.
There have been outbreaks of trouble at matches in Indonesia before, with strong rivalries between clubs that have sometimes led to violence among supporters.
Indonesia’s soccer scene has been marred by hooliganism, heavy-handed policing and mismanagement, largely preventing the stadium-packing nation of 275 million from realizing its potential in the sport.
Zainudin Amali, Indonesia’s sports minister, told KompasTV that the ministry would re-evaluate security at soccer matches, including considering not allowing spectators into stadiums.
The Malang stadium disaster appeared to be the deadliest since 1964, when 328 people were reported killed in a riot and crush when Peru hosted Argentina at the National Stadium.
In an infamous British disaster in 1989, 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death when an enclosed, packed venue collapsed at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield.
Indonesia is scheduled to host the FIFA U-20 World Cup in May and June next year. They are also one of three countries shortlisted to host next year’s Asian Cup, the continent’s equivalent of the Euros, after China pulled out as hosts.
The head of the Asian Football Confederation, Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, said in a statement that he was “deeply shocked and saddened to hear such tragic news coming from football-loving Indonesia”, expressing his condolences for the victims, their families and friends.
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Reporting by Yuddy Cahya Budiman and Prasto Wardoyo in Malang, Stefanno Sulaiman and Stanley Widianto in Jakarta, and Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Written by Kate Lamb; Editing by Ed Davies, William Mallard and Kim Coghill
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