Highlights
- The stampede broke out after Arema FC lost to Persebaya Surabaya
- The match was being played at province of East Java overnight
- Indonesian top league BRI Liga 1 has suspended games for a week
Indonesia stampede: In one of the most horrid events to have happened, 174 Indonesian people were killed after a stampede that followed soon after crowd trouble in a football match that was being played in East Java overnight. The match was contested between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya. Supporters from the losing team failed to contain their anger as they invaded the football pitch which later escalated into a horrific event.
Seeing the situation getting out of hand, the police had to take extensive measures as they started to fire tear gas which later led to a stampede. The tear case caused a suffocation-like scenario which infuriated the fans even more. The fans of Arema FC triggered the incident after their side lost the match in the ongoing BRI Liga 1. Horrendous scenes followed after that. Various video clippings from local news channels have shown people rushing onto the football pitch.
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Indonesian Sports and Youth Minister Zainudin Amali, a representative of the Indonesian government has condemned the event and said:
We are extremely sorry for this horrific incident. This certainly is a regrettable scenario that ‘injures’ our soccer culture, especially at a time when the supporters can watch football matches from the stadium. We will thoroughly evaluate the organization of the match and the attendance of supporters. Will we return to banning supporters from attending the matches? That is what we will discuss
The aftermath and the intensity of the event was such that as of now 174 have been killed, and over 180 individuals have been badly injured after the stampede broke out. The police chief of Nico Afinta has stated that the police had no other options left but to fire tear gas after the fans started to invade the football pitch and this led to a suffocation kind of a situation.The rioting peaked outside the stadium after five police vehicles were toppled and set ablaze by the fans of Arema FC. The police personnels were left no option and had to fire tear gas in the stands. The usage of tear gas is banned in soccer stadiums by FIFA. Amidst the chaos some suffocated and the others were trampled. Hundreds of people ran towards the exit just to avoid the tear gas. 34 people died in the stadium itself including two officers. Some reports suggest that the death toll also includes few women and children.
