Indonesia stadium tragedy: locked gates ‘contributed to crowd crush’
Delays in unlocking stadium gates after violence broke out at the end of a football match contributed to a crowd crush in which at least 131 people died, Indonesia’s national football association has said.
The Football Association of Indonesia said it has permanently banned the chief executive and security coordinator of the host team for failing to secure the field or promptly issue a command to unlock the gates.
It said some gates were still locked when spectators began rushing to escape teargas fired by police in an attempt to control fans who had entered the field.
Indonesian police, however, insisted the gates were open, but were too narrow to accommodate all those who were trying to escape.
But the police are facing increasing pressure over their management of crowds during the Kanjuruhan stadium disaster.
Police said the investigation was focused on video recordings from surveillance cameras at six of the 14 gates where most of the victims died. Police spokesperson Dedi Prasetyo said the gates were unlocked but only able to accommodate two people.
“For those six gates, they were not closed but they were too small. They had a capacity for two people but there were hundreds coming out. There was a crush there,” Prasetyo told reporters. He added that the gates were the responsibility of the organisers.
Most of the deaths occurred when riot police fired teargas and triggered a crush of fans making a panicked, chaotic run for the exits. Police acted after some of the 42,000 Arema FC fans ran on to the pitch in anger after their team was defeated 3-2, its first loss at home against visiting Persebaya Surabaya in 23 years.
On Monday, police announced they had removed one police chief and nine elite officers and 18 others were being investigated for responsibility in the firing of teargas inside the stadium.
Contrary to the police account, some survivors said that some of the exit gates were locked and they were unable to escape. Most of them mentioned specifically Gate 13.
According to recommendations by Fifa and the Asian Football Confederation, exits at stadiums must be unlocked at all times during the game for safety purposes. Those rules don’t necessarily apply to domestic or national leagues but nevertheless are a safety standard, as is the recommendation against the use of teargas as a crowd-control measure.
“People tried to save themselves
after teargas was fired. My group was separated from each other,” said Prasetyo Pujiono, a 32-year-old farmer from Malang, who watched the match with friends near Gate 13.
“People could not stay any more inside the stadium. We wanted to escape but the gate was closed. That is why most people died as they were trampled or suffocated,” he said.
“I remember they were screaming that they cannot breathe and their eyes hurt.”
Those trying to escape finally broke through the wall next to Gate 13, leaving behind a big hole with the scrawled graffiti that read: “Goodbye my brothers and sisters. 01-10-2022.”
Hundreds of Arema supporters and local residents have been paying tribute to the victims at Gates 13 and 12 since Monday. They prayed together, dropped rose petals, flower bouquets and placed several Arema scarves around the gates.
Pujiono said he moved more than 20 bodies that lay scattered around Gate 13. “Poor them. So many bodies were scattered at Gate 13. We could not have gotten out if we had not moved them. So my friends and I carried them to the field,” he said.