129 killed at football stadium in Indonesia following pitch invasion and stampede

As many as 129 people tragically died at a football stadium in Malang, Indonesia, when about a thousand fans invaded the pitch and prompted a stampede. This also triggered the police to fire tear gas as the stadium witnessed one of the deadliest disasters in sports.

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The catastrophe occurred at the Kanjuruhan Stadium on October 1, Saturday, after home team Arema FC lost the game 3-2 to their arch-rival Persebaya Surabaya. The police called the mayhem “riots”, and explained that they tried to sway the fans back to their seats and triggered the tear gas after two officers were killed, authorities said on Sunday.

Several victims died due to choking or the stampede, said the police. Nico Afinta, the chief of police at East Java, stated that many of them were trampled and choked when they rushed towards one of the exits. He initially said that there were 127 deaths but the toll raised to 129 later on.

The state of football in my country, 127 died, more than 100 injured, this is so sad, sending prayers to the family of the deceased#kanjuruhan #AremavsPersebaya #indonesia pic.twitter.com/lWmOiMzq3r

— Bored Dude (@ProudCityzens) October 1, 2022

We will thoroughly evaluate attendance of supporters: Sports and Youth Minister

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One of the hospital directors told the local media that one of the victims was only five years old. An inside view of the stadium showed that an enormous amount of tear gas was fired during the stampede, and there were several fans climbing over fences. Some of the video footage that is being circulated on social media platforms show people screaming profanities at police officers, who were carrying riot shields.

The stadium has a seating capacity of 42,000 and the officials confirmed that the seats for the game were sold out, with close to 3,000 invading the pitch. "We would like to convey that not all of them were anarchic. Only about 3,000 entered the pitch," a source was quoted as saying in the Times of India.

Zainudin Amali, Indonesian Sports and Youth Minister, called this a “regrettable incident. "This is a regrettable incident that 'injures' our football at a time when supporters can watch football matches from the stadium," Amali told Kompas. “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."