Watch how a stampede at football stadium in Indonesia left 129 dead, around 180 injured
A stampede during a football match in Indonesia claimed 129 human lives and left more than 180 spectators injured on Saturday night. This appears to be one of the world’s worst stadium disasters.
Pitch invasion turns deadly
When supporters of the losing home team invaded the pitch in East Java province on Saturday night to express their frustration, officers fired tear gas in an attempt to control the situation, triggering a stampede and cases of suffocation, East Java police chief Nico Afinta told reporters.
“It had gotten anarchic. They started attacking officers, they damaged cars,” Nico said, adding that the crush occurred when fans fled for an exit gate.
BREAKING: More than 100 people died after a riot broke out at an Liga 1 football match between Arema and Persebaya at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, Indonesia pic.twitter.com/YsDWQfbkRZ
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) October 1, 2022
Video footage from local news channels showed fans streaming onto the pitch in the stadium in Malang after Arema FC lost to Persebaya Surabaya. Scuffles can be seen, with what appeared to be tear gas in the air. Images showed people who appeared to have lost consciousness being carried away other fans.
42K tickets issued for 38K stadium capacity
Indonesia’s chief security miner Mahfud MD said on Sunday that the number of spectators exceeded the capacity of a stadium where there was a crowd stampede that killed 129. In an Instagram post, he said 42,000 tickets had been issued for a stadium that had a capacity to hold 38,000 people.
FIFA guidelines flouted
Penembakan gas air mata salah satu penyebab puluhan jiwa tewas di stadion kanjuruhan. STOP KOMPETISI ATAS DASAR KEMANUSIAAN! Cc @jokowi @Kiyai_MarufAmin pic.twitter.com/O5kgtSbgK7
— Instagram @akmalmarhali20 (@akmalmarhali) October 1, 2022
World soccer’s governing body FIFA specifies in its safety regulations that no firearms or “crowd control gas” should be carried or used stewards or police.
East Java police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether they were aware of such regulations.Indonesia’s human rights commission planned to investigate security at the ground, including the use of tear gas, its commissioner told news agency Reuters.
Indonesia’s clashes hory
There have been outbreaks of trouble at matches in Indonesia, with strong rivalries between clubs sometimes leading to violence among supporters.
Zainudin Amali, Indonesia’s sports miner, told KompasTV the minry would re-evaluate safety at football matches, including considering not allowing spectators in stadiums.
#Update: Just in – Shocking video footage showing you dead people turned blue duo to the extreme tear gas that was being used and thrown at fans riot police, between a football match of Arema and Persebaya, resulting in 127 dead and 180 people injured in #Indonesia. pic.twitter.com/1NyhDKojKa
— Sotiri Dimpinoudis (@sotiridi) October 1, 2022
The Indonesian top league BRI Liga 1 has suspended games for a week and an investigation had been launched, the Football Association of Indonesia said.
Among global stadium disasters, 96 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death in Britain in April 1989, when an overcrowded and fenced-in enclosure collapsed at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield.
#Breaking: Update – Other shocking video footages showing you the chaos inside of the hospital, after riot police cornered fans of the #football game, tear gassed them extremely and had no place to run, killing 153 people injured 300 others in #Indonesia. pic.twitter.com/fx2ndUzd4R
— Siraj Noorani (@sirajnoorani) October 2, 2022
Indonesia is scheduled to host the FIFA under-20 World Cup in May and June next year. They are also one of three countries bidding to stage next year’s Asian Cup, the continent’s equivalent of the Euros, after China pulled out as hosts.
With Reuters inputs
