After violent riots at a soccer game in Malang in the Indonesian province of East Java on Saturday evening (local time), the number of dead has risen to 129. Two police officers were among the dead, the Indonesian police said on Sunday. In addition, 180 people were injured.
The tragedy in Malang was one of the worst sports stadium disasters in the world. The Kanjuruhan Stadium holds a total of 42,000 spectators and was sold out according to the authorities. According to the police, 3,000 people stormed the square. “We would like to point out that not everyone was anarchic, there were only about 3000 who entered the field,” said local police chief Nico Afinta.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has ordered a security review of the country’s football games in the wake of the disaster. The country’s sports and youth minister, the national police chief and the head of the Indonesian Football Confederation have been ordered to “carry out a thorough assessment of football matches and security procedures,” Widodo said in a televised statement.
Tear gas panic
After the game, police said angry fans stormed the pitch after their club, Arema FC, lost 3-2 to arch-rivals Persebaya Surabaya, their first loss in more than two decades. The police then said they tried to persuade the fans to return to the stands and finally fired tear gas into the crowd after two police officers were killed. According to the police, this triggered a mass panic.
At one exit there was a traffic jam and “shortness of breath and lack of oxygen,” said local police chief Nico Afinta. Many of the victims were therefore trampled to death.
No more home games for Arema FC
The Indonesian Football Association then suspended the first division games for a week. He also banned Arema FC from playing home games for the rest of the season.
The accident at the British Hillsborough Stadium in 1989 is considered one of the most devastating worldwide, when 97 Liverpool FC fans died when the stands collapsed. In 2012, 74 people died in a stadium riot in Port Said, Egypt, after a football match. In 1964, a stampede during an Olympic qualifying match between Peru and Argentina at the National Stadium in Lima killed 320 and injured more than 1,000.