At least 174 people died at an Indonesian football stadium when thousands of angry home fans invaded the pitch and police responded with tear gas that triggered a stampede, authorities said Sunday.
The tragedy on Saturday night in the city of Malang, which also left 180 injured, was one of the world's deadliest sporting stadium disasters.
Arema FC supporters at the Kanjuruhan stadium stormed the pitch after their team lost 3-2 to the visiting team and bitter rivals, Persebaya Surabaya.
Police, who described the unrest as "riots", said they tried to force fans to return to the stands and fired tear gas after two officers were killed.
Many of the victims were trampled or choked to death, according to police.
At least 174 people died, East Java deputy governor Emil Dardak told broadcaster Kompas TV on Sunday afternoon, raising the toll from 129.
Survivors described panicking spectators in a packed crowd as tear gas rained down on them.
After the Arema football club lost 3-2 to Persebaya Surabaya, dozens of fans rushed the field at Kanjuruhan Stadium, Arema’s home.
Figures would make Saturday’s match among the deadliest episodes in the history of soccer. In 1964, at least 300 people died in Peru after an unpopular decision by a referee at a soccer game touched off a riot at the country’s national stadium.
In a televised speech to the nation, President Joko Widodo said he had asked the national police chief to do a thorough investigation into what happened. He said he had also ordered the minister of youth and sports, the national police chief and the chairman of Indonesia’s football association to evaluate security at soccer matches.
“I regret that this tragedy occurred,” Joko said. “And I hope this is the last football tragedy in the country.”
Hundreds of people ran to one exit gate in an effort to avoid the tear gas. Some suffocated and others were trampled, killing 34 almost instantly.
“The tear gas was overdone,” said Suci Rahayu, a photographer who was in the stadium. “Many people fainted. If there wasn’t tear gas, there wouldn’t be such a riot.”
In a telephone interview with The New York Times, Suci said many fans were in pain because they were not allowed to bring water into the stadium, which would have helped in washing off the tear gas.
In a statement, Indonesia’s Legal Aid Foundation said “the excessive use of force through the use of tear gas and inappropriate crowd control was the cause of the large number of fatalities.” It said the use of tear gas is prohibited by FIFA, soccer’s global governing body.
“The use of tear gas that was not in accordance with crowd control procedures resulted in supporters in the stands jostling for an exit door, causing them to be short of breath and fainting and colliding with each other,” the group said.
Afinta, the East Java police chief, defended the use of tear gas, saying it was deployed “because there was anarchy.”
“They were about to attack the officers and had damaged the cars,” he said.
Indonesia’s Legal Aid Foundation said the problem was made worse by the overcapacity. Mahfud MD, Indonesia’s coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, said that the local football committee had printed 42,000 tickets, more than the stadium’s 38,000 capacity.
He said the victims died “because of the stampede.” They were trampled on and suffocated to death, he said. “There were no victims of beatings or mistreatment of the supporters,” he said.
The medical team carried out rescue efforts in the stadium and then evacuated others to several hospitals, Afinta said at the news conference.
On Twitter, one user uploaded a video that showed fans scaling a fence as they tried to flee the clouds of tear gas.
In the video, people were heard cursing the police. The Twitter user tagged Widodo and Vice-President Ma’ruf Amin, saying that the firing of the tear gas had caused the deaths.
Another Twitter user uploaded a video that showed soldiers with shields and batons kicking and hitting fans who had rushed onto the field. Authorities then fired tear gas onto the field. The videos could not be immediately verified.
- Enduring violence -
Fan violence is an enduring problem in Indonesia, where deep rivalries have previously turned into deadly confrontations.
Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya are longtime rivals.
Persebaya Surabaya fans were not allowed to buy tickets for the game due to fears of violence.
However Indonesia's coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, Mahfud MD, said organisers ignored the recommendation of authorities to hold the match in the afternoon instead of the evening.
And he said the government had recommended only 38,000 tickets be printed, but there was instead a sell-out crowd of 42,000.
"The government has made improvements to the implementation of football matches... and will continue to improve. But this sport, which is a favourite of the wider community, often provokes supporters to express emotions suddenly," he said in an Instagram post.
Before Widodo's announcement, the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) suspended football matches of Indonesia's top league, BRI Liga 1, for one week.
It also banned Arema FC from hosting home games for the rest of the season.
"We're sorry and apologise to families of the victims and all parties over the incident," PSSI chairman Mochamad Iriawan said.
The chief of the Asian Football Confederation, the governing body for football in the region, expressed his regret at the loss of lives in the disaster.
"I am deeply shocked and saddened to hear such tragic news coming out of football-loving Indonesia," AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said in a statement.
Indonesia is to host the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in May at six stadiums across the country. The Kanjuruhan stadium in Malang is not included in that list.
Other stadium disasters include a 1989 crush in the stands at Britain's Hillsborough Stadium, which led to the deaths of 97 Liverpool fans, and the 2012 Port Said stadium tragedy in Egypt where 74 people died in clashes.
In 1964, 320 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured during a stampede at a Peru-Argentina Olympic qualifier at Lima's National Stadium.
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The soccer league suspended play for at least a week.
“We are concerned and deeply regret this incident,” said Akhmad Hadian Lukita, president director of PT Liga Indonesia Baru, known as LIB. “We share our condolences, and hopefully this will be a valuable lesson for all of us.”
Soccer violence has long been a problem for Indonesia. Violent, often deadly rivalries between major teams are common. Some teams even have fan clubs with so-called commanders, who lead large groups of supporters to matches across Indonesia. Flares are often thrown on the field and riot police are a regular presence at many matches.
Since the 1990s, dozens of fans have been killed in soccer-related violence.
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