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TRAGEDY AT THE SOCCER: At least 129 dead after violence erupts during match causing deadly stampede

34 people died in the Kanjuruhan stadium and the rest while in hospital, and 180 were injured

EAST JAVA, INDONESIA: A stampede at a football match has left more than 129 people dead and so far, 180 injured, according to Indonesia's police chief in East Java province. The violence broke out at Kanjuruhan stadium in Malang during a game between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya on Saturday, October 1. 

Chaos broke out after Persebaya Surabaya won 3-2. Following this, thousands of Arema fans went on to the pitch after their team lost. East Java police chief Nico Afinta told, as reported by Reuters, that when supporters of the losing team invaded the pitch to express their frustration, officers fired tear gas in an attempt to control the situation, leading to a stampede and cases of suffocation. "It had gotten anarchic. They started attacking officers, they damaged cars," said the police chief. Adding further, as quoted by South China Morning Post, Afinta said, "Thirty-four people died inside the stadium and the rest died in hospital." More than 300 were rushed to nearby hospitals but many died on the way and during treatment, he said.

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Regrets over horrifying tragedy

According to AP, Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo on Sunday, October 2, said, "I deeply regret this tragedy and I hope this is the last soccer tragedy in this country, don’t let another human tragedy like this happen in the future. We must continue to maintain sportsmanship, humanity and a sense of brotherhood of the Indonesian nation.” He ordered the Youth and Sports minister Zainudin Amali, the National Police chief and the PSSI chair to conduct a thorough evaluation of the country’s football match and its security procedure. 

Commenting on the incident, Amali told, “We’re sorry for this incident … this is a regrettable incident that ‘injures’ our football at a time when supporters can watch football matches from the stadium. We will thoroughly evaluate the organisation of the match and the attendance of supporters. Will we return to banning supporters from attending the matches? That is what we will discuss," as per South China Morning Post. He further said, as stated by AP, "This tragedy happened when we were preparing for soccer game activities, both national and international level. Indonesia is due to host the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup from May 20 to June 11, with 24 participating teams. As the host, the country automatically qualifies for the cup. Unfortunately, this incident has certainly injured our soccer image."

Ferli Hidayat, local police chief of Malang, said there were around 42,000 spectators. A local health official said many of the victims died of "chaos, overcrowding, trampling and suffocation" as reported by Sky News. Indonesia's football league had said marches would be suspended for a week, Widodo has ordered all matches to be postponed until the investigation is concluded. In addition to this, Arema has also been banned from hosting matches for the rest of the season, reports the outlet.