In One Of The World's Worst Stadium Disasters, 127 Killed In Stampede At Indonesia Football Match
At least 129 people have died in a stampede at an Indonesian football match, officials say, in one of the world's worst stadium disasters.
What has happened in Indonesia?
After the match between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya in the province of East Java had ended, supporters from the losing team had invaded the pitch. To control the crowd, police had fired tear gas, triggering a stampede and cases of suffocation, East Java police chief Nico Afinta told reporters.
Videos show fans running on to the pitch after the final whistle. Panicked fans were trampled and crushed trying to flee during the riot, police said on Sunday.
What went wrong at the football match?
The country's chief security minister said that the number of spectators exceeded the stadium's capacity by around 4,000 people.
Chief Security Minister Mahfud MD posted on Instagram that 42,000 tickets had been sold for the match at the Kanjuruhan stadium, which has a capacity of 38,000.?
"It had gotten anarchic. They started attacking officers, they damaged cars," Nico Afinta, police chief in East Java said, adding that two police officers were among the dead.
"We would like to convey that... not all of them were anarchic. Only about 3,000 who entered the pitch," he said.
Fleeing fans "went out to one point at the exit. Then there was a build-up, in the process of accumulation there was shortness of breath, lack of oxygen", he added.
Videos on social media show fans clambering over fences to escape. Separate videos appear to show lifeless bodies on the floor.
What have authorities said about the tragedy?
Fifa, the world's governing football body, states that no "crowd control gas" should be carried or used by stewards or police at matches.
The Indonesian football association (PSSI) said it had launched an investigation, adding that the incident had "tarnished the face of Indonesian football".
President Joko Widodo has ordered that all matches in Indonesia's top league must be stopped until an investigation has been concluded. He?called for this to be the "last soccer tragedy in the nation" after ordering that all Liga 1 games should be paused pending an investigation.?
There have been previous outbreaks of trouble at matches in Indonesia, with a strong rivalry between clubs sometimes leading to violence among supporters.??
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