125 die as tear gas triggers stampede at Indonesian football game

Malang (Indonesia), October 2

Police firing tear gas after an Indonesian soccer match in an attempt to stop violence triggered a disastrous crush of fans making a panicked, chaotic run for the exits, leaving at least 125 people dead, most of them trampled upon or suffocated.

Attention immediately focused on police crowd-control measures at Saturday night’s match between hosts Arema FC of East Java’s Malang city and Persebaya Surabaya. Witnesses described officers beating them with sticks and shields before shooting tear gas canisters directly into the crowds.

It was among the deadliest disasters ever at a sporting event. President Joko Widodo ordered an investigation of security procedures, and the president of FIFA called the deaths “a dark day for all involved in football and a tragedy beyond comprehension.” While FIFA has no control over domestic games, it has advised against the use of tear gas at soccer stadiums.

Brawls are common among rival Indonesian soccer fans, so much so that the organisers had banned Persebaya supporters from Arema’s stadium. But violence still broke out when the home team lost 2-3 and some of the 42,000 Arema fans, known as “Aremania,” threw bottles and other objects at players and soccer officials.

Witnesses said the fans flooded the Kanjuruhan Stadium pitch and demanded that Arema management explain why, after 23 years of undefeated home matches against Persebaya, this one ended in a defeat.

At least five police vehicles were toppled and set ablaze outside the stadium. Riot police responded by firing tear gas, including toward the stadium’s stands, causing panic among the crowd.

Many suffocated and were trampled as hundreds of people ran to the exit to avoid the tear gas. In the chaos, 34 died at the stadium, including two officers, and some reports include children among the casualties. National Police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo said the death toll had been revised to 125 from 174, after authorities found some of the victims were counted twice. More than 100 were receiving intensive treatment in eight hospitals, 11 of them in critical condition.

East Java police chief Nico Afinta defended the use of tear gas. “We have already done a preventive action before finally firing the tear gas as (fans) began to attack the police, acting anarchically and burning vehicles,” he told a news conference today.

Indonesia’s soccer association, known as PSSI, suspended the premier soccer league Liga 1 indefinitely in light of the tragedy and banned Arema from hosting soccer matches for the remainder of the season. — AP

Major stadium disasters

February 2012, Egypt: Fans rioted at the end of a match between rivals Al-Masry and Al-Ahly in the city of Port Said. At least 73 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured, and the Egyptian league was suspended for two years.

May 2001, Ghana: Around 126 people were killed in a stampede at Accra’s main soccer stadium when police fired tear gas at rioting fans.

October 1996, Guatemala: Up to 82 people died and at least 147 were injured when an avalanche of fans tumbled down seats and a flight of stairs at a World Cup qualifying match in Guatemala City.

May 1992, France: A stand at Bastia’s Furiani Stadium collapsed before a French Cup semifinal against Olympique de Marseille, killing 18 and injuring more than 2,300.

April 1989, Britain: Ninety-six Liverpool supporters were crushed to death in an over-crowded and fenced-in enclosure at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield before an FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

March 1988, Nepal: A stampede towards locked exits in a hailstorm at Nepal’s national soccer stadium in Kathmandu killed more than 90 fans.

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