Indonesia was bereaved on Sunday by one of the worst stadium tragedies ever: at least 125 people died in a crowd movement when thousands of fans invaded a soccer field and were sprayed with gas tear gas by the police, according to a latest report.
The tragedy, which took place on Saturday evening in the city of Malang, east of the island of Java, also left more than a hundred injured in this archipelago of Southeast Asia where rivalries between supporters often end in disaster.
The incident began when fans of local team Arema FC entered the pitch at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang city after their side lost 3-2 to neighboring Persebaya Surabaya.
Police, who described the incident as a “riot”, tried to persuade fans to return to the stands and fired tear gas into the audience after two officers were killed, resulting in jostling and protests. uncontrolled crowds. Many victims were trampled.
The vice-governor of the province of East Java, Emil Dardak, announced Sunday evening a downward revision of the balance sheet, which goes from 174 to 125 dead, due to a double count.
“Today’s death toll is 125. 124 were identified and one was not. Some names had been registered twice,” the official told Metro TV.
Large amounts of tear gas
Survivors described panicking onlookers pinned down by crowds as police fired tear gas.
Footage taken inside the stadium shows a huge amount of tear gas and people clinging to the barriers, trying to escape. Others carried injured bystanders, pushing their way through the chaos.
“Police threw tear gas, and people immediately rushed out, pushing each other and that caused a lot of casualties,” Doni, a 43-year-old spectator, told AFP. didn’t want to give his last name.
“There was nothing, no riots. I don’t know what happened, they suddenly fired tear gas, he said. What shocked me was that they didn’t think of women and children. »
Amnesty International has called for an investigation “into the use of tear gas” by the police and for those who “committed violations to be brought to justice” and not just punished by their superiors.
Interviewed by AFP, Sam Gilang, a survivor, who lost three friends, crushed by the crowd, spoke of a “terrifying, absolutely shocking” incident.
“People were pushing each other […] and many were trampled on their way to the exit. My eyes were burning from tear gas. Fortunately, I managed to climb over a fence and I survived”.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Sunday ordered “a comprehensive assessment of soccer matches and security procedures”.
He asked the National Football Association to suspend all matches until “security improvements” are made.
A hospital director told a local television station that one of the victims was only five years old.
The stadium held 42,000 people and was full according to authorities. Some 3,000 of them invaded the pitch after the game.
The world of soccer in shock
In front of the stadium, charred vehicles, including a police truck, littered the streets on Sunday, testifying to the anger of the population after this tragedy.
Fans of the Arema club threw flower petals in front of the statue of the club’s mascot, a lion, in tribute to the victims.
The Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) made its mea culpa and many reactions poured in from the shocked soccer world.
This disaster is “a tragedy beyond imagining”, said the president of the International Football Federation (FIFA) Gianni Infantino.
Manchester United clubs Barcelona, Italy’s Serie A, and Paris Saint-Germain defender Sergio Ramos have expressed condolences online.
In Spain, a minute’s silence will be observed in stadiums before Sunday’s league matches.
The secretary general of the National Football Association PSSI, Yunus Yussi, said he had communicated with FIFA about this dramatic incident, hoping to avoid sanctions from the international body.
FIFA prohibits in its recommendations the use of tear gas for crowd control on the pitch.
During his Sunday Angelus in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis said he prayed “for those who lost their lives and were injured in the clashes”.
Fan violence has been a long-standing problem in Indonesia, where club rivalries have often turned into deadly clashes.
Some matches – the most important being the derby between Persija Jakarta and Persib Bandung – are so tense that players from top teams have to go there under heavy protection.
For the game on Saturday, Persebaya Surabaya fans were not allowed to buy tickets for fear of incidents.
Indonesia is due to host the U-20 World Cup next year at several stadiums across the country, but Malang is not one of them.
In 1989, a mob at Hillsborough Stadium in Britain left 97 Liverpool fans dead and in 2012 Port Said Stadium in Egypt suffered another tragedy with 74 dead.
In 1964, 320 people died and more than a thousand others were injured during a crowd movement at the National Stadium in Lima during a qualifying match between Peru and Argentina.