Soccer fans in Indonesia rushed onto the pitch after a professional soccer game on Saturday night, prompting police to fire tear gas into packed crowds and sparking a stampede that killed at least 125 people, local officials said .
Fans had packed Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, Indonesia to see the home side – Arema – take on Persebaya Surabaya. After Arema lost the match 3-2, the fans rushed onto the pitch.
The unrest prompted police to fire tear gas, which caused panic, East Java Police Chief Inspector General Nico Afinta told a news conference. By Sunday evening, 125 people had died, according to a national police spokesman. According to reports, another 300 people were injured. The death toll rose and fell throughout the day, and police said earlier tolls may have double-counted some of the dead.
The toll made Saturday’s match one of the deadliest episodes in football history. In 1964, at least 300 people died in Peru after an unpopular decision by a referee during a football match sparked a riot at the country’s national stadium.
In a televised address to the nation, President Joko Widodo said he had asked the national police chief to carry out a thorough investigation into what happened and had ordered a security assessment at football matches .
“I regret that this tragedy happened,” Mr Joko said. “And I hope this is the last football tragedy in the country.
Human rights organizations have condemned the use of tear gas, which is banned by football’s world governing body FIFA. Eyewitnesses said the gas was sometimes fired indiscriminately into the stands, forcing the overcapacitated crowd to rush for the exits.
“Excessive use of force through the use of tear gas and improper crowd control were the cause of the large number of deaths,” Indonesia’s Legal Aid Foundation said in a statement.
But East Java police chief Mr Afinta defended the use of tear gas, saying it was deployed “because there was lawlessness”.
“They were about to attack the officers and damaged the cars,” he said.
Overcapacity has also exacerbated the situation, according to Indonesia’s Legal Aid Foundation. The local football committee had printed 42,000 tickets for a 38,000-capacity stadium, according to Mahfud MD, Indonesia’s coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs.
He said the victims died “from the stampede” – they were trampled and choked to death.
“There were no victims of beatings or ill-treatment of supporters,” he said.
The football league, PT Liga Indonesia Baru, suspended play for at least a week and offered its condolences in a statement.
Football’s national governing body, the PSSI, also offered its condolences and said an investigation was underway, but appeared to place the blame on Arema club supporters, saying it ‘regrets the action’ supporters.
Football violence has long been a problem for Indonesia, where violent and often deadly rivalries between top teams are common. Flares are often thrown onto the pitch and riot police are regularly present at many matches. Since the 1990s, dozens of fans have been killed in football-related violence.
Sui Lee Wee reported from Bangkok, and Muktita Suhartono from Jakarta. Dera Menra Sijabat contributed reporting from Jakarta, and Damian’s Cave from Sydney, Australia.