According to local police reports, another 18 people were injured in a stampede that occurred after the use of tear gas by police.
In Indonesia, on the island of Java, in the city of Malang, after a match between two local football teams, Arema and Persebaya Surabaya, there were riots that were staged by the fans of the first team. Football club Arema lost with a score of 2:3, which caused dissatisfaction among the supporters of this team. Police fired tear gas at football fans and the stampede that ensued left at least 129 people dead and 180 others injured, writes AP .
Riots at the stadium in Indonesia occurred after the match on Sunday, October 2. To quell the unrest at the stadium, police said they had to use tear gas, which led to a stampede as fans tried to flee the stadium.
Initially, it became known that 34 people were killed at the stadium as a result of a fight between themselves and clashes with the police, two of them were policemen. Many people were trampled by the crowd running towards the exits from the stadium, and some were suffocated by the gas.
Later it became known that as a result of this disaster at a football stadium in Indonesia, 129 people died, including a 5-year-old child. According to local authorities, there were 42,000 fans at the stadium, which could accommodate 38,000 people. The number of dead and injured could be higher, as many of the victims who were taken to hospitals are in serious condition.
Local media reported that the fight between the fans began after the loss of one of the teams, when thousands of fans rushed to the football field. Some witnesses claim that there were at least 3,000 of them.
The Indonesian government has already expressed its regrets about what happened in the city of Malang, brought and promised to investigate the circumstances of this incident.
“We regret this incident, which is hurting our football now that people can come and watch the match live. We will investigate and discuss whether it is worth reintroducing the ban on fans attending matches again,” said the Indonesian Minister of Sports and Youth. Zainudin Amal.
Clashes between football fans are a constant problem in Indonesia. Rivalry between teams leads to confrontation between their fans. The Indonesian football championship was suspended for a week due to the incident.
As for other well-known disasters that have occurred in football stadiums, in 1989 in Sheffield, UK, 97 people died as a result of a stampede in the stands. And in 2012 in Egypt, in the city of Port Said, at the stadium, as a result of clashes between fans, 74 people were killed.
