Indonesia football stampede: 32 children among dead as death toll rises

Indonesia’s chief security minister will investigate who caused the soccer stadium stampede that left at least 125 people dead, including 32 children.

Indonesia’s government called on the country’s police on Monday to identify and punish whoever was responsible for a stadium stampede that left 125 people dead, including 32 children, as anger mounted over one of the deadliest disasters in the history of football.

The tragedy on Saturday night in the city of Malang also saw more than 320 people injured after officers fired tear gas in a packed stadium to quell a pitch invasion, triggering a stampede.

Football supporters hold a candlelight vigil for victims of a stampede which killed 32 children in among the 125 people dead. Picture: AFP

“We ask the national police to find the perpetrators who have committed crimes in the next few days,” Indonesia’s chief security minister Mahfud MD said in a broadcast statement, without specifying who he was referring to.

“We asked them to unveil who has perpetrated the crimes and that action must be taken against them and we also hope the National Police will evaluate their security procedures,” he added, announcing a task force for the investigation had been formed.

The incident unfolded when fans of home team Arema FC stormed the pitch at the Kanjuruhan stadium after their loss 3-2 to bitter rivals Persebaya Surabaya.

At least 127 people, including two police officers, have been killed in a stampede triggered by the use of tear gas to quell unrest after an Indonesian league football match in East Java on Sunday.

Police responded by launching volleys of tear gas into packed terraces, prompting spectators to rush en masse to small gates where many were trampled or suffocated, according to witnesses.

Police described the incident as a riot in which two officers were killed but survivors accuse them of overreacting and causing the deaths of scores of spectators, including a five-year-old boy.

“One of our messages is for the authorities to investigate this (incident) thoroughly. And we want accountability, who is to blame?” 25-year-old Andika, who declined to give his last name, told AFP.

“We want justice for our fallen supporters,” he said.

BIG MISTAKE THAT FUELLED DEADLY SOCCER STAMPEDE

Police apparently broke FIFA rules by using tear gas to break up fights at a soccer stadium in East Java on Saturday, which was followed by a massive stampede that killed at least 125 people and injured more than 320.

Safety regulations set by world soccer’s governing body prohibit “firearms or ‘crowd control gas … carried or used” to maintain order at games, according to multiple reports.

Local police contradicted those rules when they shot tear gas at a crowd of angry supporters who flooded the field and started fights with the opposition after the final whistle, which led to the deadly stampede.

Indonesian police broke FIFA rules when they used tear gas quell fighting at a soccer game in East Java on Sunday.

Some fans were trampled to death instantly, some suffocated and others died on their way to hospital.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement stampede was a “dark day for all involved” and the soccer world was “in a state of shock”, reports the New York Post.

FIFA has called for PSSI, the Indonesian soccer league, to investigate and report its findings to them.

It comes as Amnesty International’s Indonesian division also condemned the tear gassing, saying the “use of excessive force by the state … to contain or control such crowds cannot be justified at all”.

The region’s police chief Nico Afinta described the crowd as uncontrollable.

“It had gotten anarchic. They started attacking officers, they damaged cards,” he said, reported Reuters.

It is unclear if Indonesian police knew about FIFA’s rules.

Is it unknown whether FIFA will take action against PSSI. Indonesia is set to host the 2023 FIFA Under-20 World Cup.

At least 125 people have been killed in a stampede triggered by the use of tear gas to quell unrest after an Indonesian league football match in East Java on Sunday.

‘FANS DIED IN PLAYERS’ ARMS’

Chilean football coach Javier Roca on Sunday said “fans died in the arms of players” and claimed tear gas-firing police fatally “overstepped” the mark in the Indonesian football tragedy which claimed at least 125 lives, the youngest a child five years old.

The disaster happened when fans of Arema FC stormed the pitch at the Kanjuruhan stadium after their team lost 3-2 to bitter rivals, Persebaya Surabaya.

Police said 323 people were also injured in what is one of the world’s deadliest sporting stadium disasters.

A group of people carry a man after a football match between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya at Kanjuruhan stadium in Malang, East Java. Picture: AFP

“The most terrible thing was when victims came to be treated by the team doctor. About 20 people arrived and four died. Fans died in the arms of players,” Arema coach Roca told Spanish broadcaster Cadena Ser. “I’m mentally shattered. I feel a heavy burden, even a heavy responsibility.”

Police, who described the unrest as “riots”, said they tried to force the thousands of fans to return to the stands from the pitch and fired tear gas after two officers were killed.

Police and football supporters help the injured following a stampede at a football match in East Java. Picture: AFP

Many of the victims were trampled or choked to death, according to police. The stadium holds 42,000 people and authorities said it was a sellout. Police said 3,000 people stormed the pitch.

The 45-year-old Roca, who has spent a large part of his career in Indonesia, described how the full extent of the tragedy unfolded in the immediate aftermath of the game on Saturday night.

Javier Roca, el chileno DT del Arema FC que vivió la tragedia que terminó con 174 fallecidos en Indonesia: "Nos dimos cuenta de que había muertos cuando los sacamos a camarines" https://t.co/A2K7GifCeipic.twitter.com/Dz0xW8fbdZ

— RedGol (@redgol) October 2, 2022

“After the match, I went to the dressing room, and some players stayed on the pitch. Returning from the press conference, I saw the tragedy,” he added.

“The boys passed by with victims in their arms. Results dictate us and determine what happens in the end. If we were drawing, it wouldn’t have happened.” Roca accused police of overreacting and that the stadium was woefully underprepared.

“It was proved that the stadium was not ready, they didn’t expect such chaos. Nothing like this had ever happened at the stadium, and it fell apart because of the number of people who wanted to escape,” added Roca.

“I think the police overstepped their mark, even though I wasn’t out there and didn’t experience the outcome.

“But looking at the images, they could have used other techniques. There is no result in a match, no matter how important, that is worth losing a life.”

Security personnel deployed tear gas into Kanjuruhan stadium from the pitch in Malang, East Java. Picture: AFP

Survivors described panicking spectators in a packed crowd as tear gas rained down on them.

“Officers fired tear gas, and automatically people were rushing to come out, pushing each other and it caused many victims,” 43-year-old spectator Doni, who declined to give his last name, told AFP.

“Nothing was happening, there was no riot. I don’t know what the issue was, they suddenly fired tear gas. That’s what shocked me, didn’t they think about kids, women?”

President Joko Widodo ordered an investigation into the tragedy, a safety review into all football matches and directed the country’s Football Association to suspend all matches until “security improvements” were completed.

People stand next to a torched vehicle outside the Kanjuruhan stadium in Malang, East Java. Picture: AFP

A hospital director told local TV that one of the victims was five years old. Images taken from inside the stadium during the stampede showed police firing huge amounts of tear gas and people clambering over fences.

Amnesty International called for an investigation into why tear gas was deployed in a confined space, saying it should only be used “when other methods have failed”.

Supporters carry a man injured in a stampede at Kanjuruhan stadium on Sunday. Picture: AFP

People carried injured spectators through the chaos and survivors lugged lifeless bodies out of the stadium.

“It was so terrifying, so shocking,” 22-year-old survivor Sam Gilang, who lost three friends in the crush, told AFP.

“People were pushing each other and … many were trampled on their way to the exit gate. My eyes were burning because of the tear gas. I fortunately managed to climb up the fence and survived,” he said.

Video footage circulating on social media showed people shouting obscenities at police, who were holding riot shields and wielding batons.

Torched vehicles, including a police truck, littered the streets outside the stadium on Sunday morning.

The stadium holds 42,000 people and authorities said it was a sellout. Police said 3,000 people stormed the pitch.

A policeman sets up a cordon next to a torched vehicle outside Kanjuruhan stadium in Malang on Sunday. Picture: AFP

Fan violence is an enduring problem in Indonesia, where deep rivalries have previously turned into deadly confrontations.

Area FC and Persebaya Surabaya are longtime rivals.

Persebaya Surabaya fans were not allowed to buy tickets for the game due to fears of violence.

Football supporters named Ultras chant slogans during a candlelight vigil to show their condolences to victims of a stampede, in Jakarta. Picture: AFP

However Indonesia’s co-ordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, Mahfud MD, said organisers ignored a recommendation to print fewer tickets and hold the match in the afternoon instead of the evening.

On Sunday, Arema fans threw flower petals at the club’s lion mascot monument outside the stadium in tribute to the victims.

In Jakarta as many as 300 football fans, including some known as diehard “ultras”, gathered for a candlelit vigil outside the Gelora Bung Karno stadium, Indonesia’s biggest. Some chanted “Murderer!” and set off firecrackers.

Originally published as Indonesia football stampede: 32 children among dead as death toll rises