Stadium victims ‘died in the players’ arms’
MALANG: Indonesian police have come under mounting criticism after 125 people died in a stampede at a football stadium where officers fired teargas on angry fans invading the pitch.
Players even cradled dying spectators, according to a coach, in the tragedy on Saturday night in the city of Malang, which also left 323 people injured in one of the world’s deadliest sporting stadium disasters.
Arema FC supporters at the Kanjuruhan stadium stormed the pitch after their team lost 3-2 to their bitter rivals, Persebaya Surabaya.
Arema’s coach accused police of “overstepping” their mark, while soccer’s governing body FIFA’s safety guidelines prohibit the use of crowd control gas at pitchside.
Amnesty International has called for an investigation into why tear gas was deployed in a confined space, saying it should only be used “when other methods have failed”.
Police, who described the unrest as riots, said they tried to force fans to return to the stands and fired tear gas after two officers were killed.
Many of the victims were trampled or choked to death, according to police. Arema football coach Javier Roca said fans had even “died in the arms of players,” after some of the team stayed on the pitch when the game ended.
“The boys passed by with victims in their arms,” Rocca said. “I think the police overstepped their mark, even though I wasn’t out there and didn’t experience the outcome,” he added.
People carried injured spectators through the chaos, and survivors lugged lifeless bodies out of the stadium.
“It was so terrifying, so shocking,” 22-year-old said survivor Sam Gilang, who lost three friends in the crush.
“People were pushing each other and … many were trampled on their way to the exit gate. My eyes were burning because of the tear gas. I fortunately managed to climb up the fence and survived.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the stampede was a “dark day for all involved” and the soccer world was “in a state of shock”.
FIFA has called for PSSI, the Indonesian soccer league, to investigate and report its findings to them.
President Joko Widodo ordered an investigation into the tragedy and a safety review into all soccer matches.
Torched vehicles, including a police truck, littered the streets outside the stadium on Sunday morning.
Arema fans threw flower petals at the club’s lion mascot monument outside the stadium and held a candlelight vigil in tribute to the victims.