Malang, Indonesia: Elite Indonesian police officers were under investigation on Tuesday over a stadium stampede that killed 125 people, including dozens of children, in one of the deadliest disasters in football history.
As public anger over the tragedy grew, the police proceeded to punish those responsible for the crush in the city. Malang Eyewitnesses say it started when officials fired tear gas into the packed stands to stop the attack on the pitch.
Arema FC fans set up a makeshift center in Malang on Monday to receive legal complaints that they said would file a lawsuit against officials for what they said was targeting spectators indiscriminately in confined terraces There were deaths.
Police called the incident a riot and said two officers were killed, but survivors accused them of exaggeration.
“If there is a riot, it (tear gas) should be fired on the pitch, not in the stands,” Danny Agung Prasetyo, coordinator of the support group Arema DC, told AFP.
“Many of the victims were those who were in the stands. They were panicking because of the tear gas.”
The local police chief was replaced on Monday, nine officers were suspended and 19 others placed under investigation into the disaster that occurred only at a stadium filled with hometown Arema FC fans, national police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said.
The Indonesian government suspended the country’s national league and announced a task force to investigate the tragedy. It said it would take two to three weeks for the investigation to be completed.
The roofs of Kanjuruhan Stadium were filled with thousands of young “Armenia” or Arema FC fans, to watch their team face fierce rivals. persebaya surabaya,
But after a 3-2 loss, the first time from East Java’s biggest city at home to its rivals in more than two decades, fans took to the pitch to talk to players and management.
According to witnesses and video footage, police responded to the attack on the pitch by forcefully kicking fans and batons, prompting more fans to join the crowd on the pitch.
Demands for an independent investigation have risen since details of the stampede emerged over the weekend.
“We will find out what really happened, about the violence and excessive use of force,” said Choirul Anam, a commissioner. National Human Rights Commission ,comnas humi), told a press briefing on Monday.
“Why would you kick someone who was walking on the side of the field?”
Fan anger was displayed in the stadium where a police truck was set on fire and the walls were painted with graffiti that read “tear gas versus mother’s tears” and “our friends died here”.
More vigil was planned at Malang on Tuesday after fans and Arema FC players gathered outside the stadium a day earlier and offered prayers for the victims.
Among the dead were 32 children, an official from the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection told AFP, with the youngest being just three or four years old.
Indonesia’s health ministry said all those killed in the stampede had been identified.
Of the hundreds injured, 68 were seriously injured and 219 had minor injuries.
City Health Ministry official Nadia Tarmizi told state news agency Antara that twenty-six were still being treated for their wounds.
Football fan violence is a permanent problem in Indonesia, and Persebaya Surabaya fans were barred from the game because of it.
But fans said they were not to blame.
According to witnesses, Indonesian officials said more tickets were allotted than they should have been, while some of the stadium doors were closed.
This left the physically strong supporters erecting large fences to avoid devastation, while the weakest were at the mercy of the crush as tear gas rained down.
“The doors were locked, so people were pushing. Some lay in the corner,” a 16-year-old who survived the chaos told AFP, near a locked gate to try to avoid a crush.
“In the stands, there were some guys who got hit straight away. I saw it myself,” he said.
Everything that could have gone wrong with a football match happened on Saturday night, culminating in a never-before-seen disaster at an Indonesian stadium.
“You can see and feel something bad might happen. This kind of fear is what you usually get when you travel to a game here,” Indonesian football pundit Pangeren Siahan told AFP.
“Every time you go into a football stadium in Indonesia there are a lot of dangers.”
As public anger over the tragedy grew, the police proceeded to punish those responsible for the crush in the city. Malang Eyewitnesses say it started when officials fired tear gas into the packed stands to stop the attack on the pitch.
Arema FC fans set up a makeshift center in Malang on Monday to receive legal complaints that they said would file a lawsuit against officials for what they said was targeting spectators indiscriminately in confined terraces There were deaths.
Police called the incident a riot and said two officers were killed, but survivors accused them of exaggeration.
“If there is a riot, it (tear gas) should be fired on the pitch, not in the stands,” Danny Agung Prasetyo, coordinator of the support group Arema DC, told AFP.
“Many of the victims were those who were in the stands. They were panicking because of the tear gas.”
The local police chief was replaced on Monday, nine officers were suspended and 19 others placed under investigation into the disaster that occurred only at a stadium filled with hometown Arema FC fans, national police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said.
The Indonesian government suspended the country’s national league and announced a task force to investigate the tragedy. It said it would take two to three weeks for the investigation to be completed.
The roofs of Kanjuruhan Stadium were filled with thousands of young “Armenia” or Arema FC fans, to watch their team face fierce rivals. persebaya surabaya,
But after a 3-2 loss, the first time from East Java’s biggest city at home to its rivals in more than two decades, fans took to the pitch to talk to players and management.
According to witnesses and video footage, police responded to the attack on the pitch by forcefully kicking fans and batons, prompting more fans to join the crowd on the pitch.
Demands for an independent investigation have risen since details of the stampede emerged over the weekend.
“We will find out what really happened, about the violence and excessive use of force,” said Choirul Anam, a commissioner. National Human Rights Commission ,comnas humi), told a press briefing on Monday.
“Why would you kick someone who was walking on the side of the field?”
Fan anger was displayed in the stadium where a police truck was set on fire and the walls were painted with graffiti that read “tear gas versus mother’s tears” and “our friends died here”.
More vigil was planned at Malang on Tuesday after fans and Arema FC players gathered outside the stadium a day earlier and offered prayers for the victims.
Among the dead were 32 children, an official from the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection told AFP, with the youngest being just three or four years old.
Indonesia’s health ministry said all those killed in the stampede had been identified.
Of the hundreds injured, 68 were seriously injured and 219 had minor injuries.
City Health Ministry official Nadia Tarmizi told state news agency Antara that twenty-six were still being treated for their wounds.
Football fan violence is a permanent problem in Indonesia, and Persebaya Surabaya fans were barred from the game because of it.
But fans said they were not to blame.
According to witnesses, Indonesian officials said more tickets were allotted than they should have been, while some of the stadium doors were closed.
This left the physically strong supporters erecting large fences to avoid devastation, while the weakest were at the mercy of the crush as tear gas rained down.
“The doors were locked, so people were pushing. Some lay in the corner,” a 16-year-old who survived the chaos told AFP, near a locked gate to try to avoid a crush.
“In the stands, there were some guys who got hit straight away. I saw it myself,” he said.
Everything that could have gone wrong with a football match happened on Saturday night, culminating in a never-before-seen disaster at an Indonesian stadium.
“You can see and feel something bad might happen. This kind of fear is what you usually get when you travel to a game here,” Indonesian football pundit Pangeren Siahan told AFP.
“Every time you go into a football stadium in Indonesia there are a lot of dangers.”