MALANG, Indonesia – A senior Indonesian official said on Monday that he would establish an independent investigation into the deaths of at least 125 football fans after the police fired tear gas at a game.
Mahfud MD, Indonesian Minister of Security, said The investigation will take approx two weeks and will look into whether any laws were violated, what compensation should be provided to the victims and how Indonesian football can prevent future stadium disasters.
The independent body was announced just days after Saturday’s tragedy, where tens of thousands of young Arema FC fans gathered at an oversold stadium in Malang in the hope of seeing the home team beat rivals Persebaya Surabaya.
But Arema lost 3-2, and angry fans began to flock onto the pitch.
What happened next became one of the deadliest sports stadium disasters in history. Witnesses said police officers began firing tear gas canisters into the crowd and beating fans with batons, and in their haste to flee, fans piled up from the narrow exit, crushing them. on top of each other. At least 125 people were reported dead as of Sunday night.
Felix Mustikasakti Afoan Tumbaz, a 23-year-old fan whose right leg was injured when a tear gas canister fell on him, said: “I’m still thinking: ‘Did all this really happen? “. “How can such a tragedy happen and kill so many people?”
The disaster has focused attention on the local police’s use of tear gas in such a packed stadium. On Twitter, one of the most trending topics in Indonesia was the “National Police Chief”, with many Indonesians calling for his removal. A spokesman for the national police said that in addition to the huge death toll, there were reports that at least 300 people had been injured. quoted a police spokesman.
Violent, often deadly confrontations between big teams are common in Indonesia. Some teams even have fan clubs with so-called commanders who lead large groups of fans. Flares are often thrown onto the pitch, and riot police are present at many games. Since the 1990s, dozens of fans was killed in football-related violence.
But Indonesia has never seen a sports stadium disaster of this scale. Saturday’s tragedy seemed like a perfect storm of everything that could go wrong during a football match.
