At least 129 people have been killed and 180 injured at a soccer match in Indonesia as panicked fans were trampled and crushed trying to flee a riot, authorities said on Sunday, in what appears to be the worst stadium disaster in half a century.
Video footage from local news channels showed fans streaming onto the pitch in the stadium in Malang after the Indonesian Premier League game ended, with Persebaya Surabaya defeating Arema Malang 3-2.
Disappointed with the loss, thousands of supporters threw bottles and other objects at players and officials before storming the pitch.
In response authorities fired tear gas, leading to a crowd stampede and to cases of suffocation, East Java police chief Nico Afinta told reporters.
Hundreds of people reportedly ran to an exit gate in an effort to avoid the tear gas. Some suffocated in the chaos and others were trampled.
More than 300 people were rushed to nearby hospitals to treat injuries, but many died on the way or during treatment, Mr Afinta said.
According to the police chief, at least two police officers were among he dead.
“Thirty-four people died inside the stadium and the rest died in hospital,” Mr Afinta said.
The head of one of the hospitals in the area treating patients told Metro TV that some of the victims had sustained brain injuries, and that the dead included a five-year-old child.
Footage posted on social media showed a crowd of spectators rush onto the field. Moments later, police with shields and batons ran on to the field towards the crowd.
Police could be seen kicking and beating people with batons as they attempted to run from the field.
Tear gas then fills the air on the field and in the stadiums. Images show people who appear to have lost consciousness being carried away by other fans.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said authorities must thoroughly evaluate security at matches, adding that he hoped this would be “the last soccer tragedy in the nation.”
Mr Widodo ordered the Football Association of Indonesia to suspend all games in the Indonesian top league BRI Liga 1 until an investigation had been completed.
World soccer’s governing body FIFA specifies in its safety regulations that no firearms or “crowd control gas” should be carried or used by stewards or police.
It was meant to be a friendly match between Bali United and Jakarta’s team Persija — but even before David Lipson got into the Bali stadium, a brawl between rival fans broke out.
The country’s chief security minister Mahfud MD said in an Instagram post that the stadium had been filled beyond its capacity. He said 42,000 tickets had been issued for a stadium that is only supposed to hold 38,000 people.
Financial aid would be given to the injured and the families of 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 sometimes leading to violence among fans.
Persebaya fans had been banned from the match, a restriction imposed after clashes between supporters of the two rival teams in February 2020 resulted in damages totalling over $25,000.
Despite Indonesia’s lack of international accolades in the sport, hooliganism is rife in the soccer-obsessed country where fanaticism often ends in violence, as in the 2018 death of a Persija Jakarta supporter who was killed by a mob of hardcore fans of rival club Persib Bandung in 2018.
