Indonesia forms team to investigate deadly soccer stampede as 32 children announced among 125 dead

Indonesia has set up an independent team to investigate a crowd at a soccer stadium that killed 125 people, including 32 children, as the country’s human rights commission questioned police use of tear gas.

Panicked spectators rushed as they tried to escape the crowded stadium in Malang, East Java, on Saturday after police fired tear gas to disperse supporters of the losing home team who ran onto the field at the end of the BRI Liga 1 national championship match.

At least 32 of the victims were children aged 3 to 17, said Nahar, an official at the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection.

Most of the 125 people who died were trampled or suffocated.

“My family and I didn’t think it would happen like this,” said Endah Wahyuni, the older sister of two boys, Ahmad Cahyo, 15, and Muhammad Farel, 14, who died after being caught in the melee.

“They loved football, but had never watched Arema live at Kanjuruhan Stadium. It was their first time,” she said at her brothers’ funeral on Sunday, referring to the local team they supported.

Police officers indicted for using tear gas

Loading…

FIFA, world football’s governing body, states in its security rules that guns or “crowd control gases” must not be used at matches.

“If there was no tear gas, there might not have been chaos,” Choirul Anam, commissioner of Indonesia’s National Human Rights Commission, known as Komnas Ham, said at a news briefing at the stadium.

Police and sports officials have been sent to Malang to investigate what is one of the world’s deadliest stadium disasters.

Police said 18 officers responsible for the tear gas shooting as well as security officials were being investigated and that cellphones belonging to the victims were being examined to identify suspected vandals inside and outside the stadium.

President Joko Widodo has ordered the soccer federation to suspend all Liga 1 matches until the investigation is completed.

Indonesia’s chief security minister said the government would form an independent investigation team, including academics, football experts as well as government officials, to investigate what happened.

The team will also determine what compensation the victims should be paid and complete the task in three weeks.

Violence and hooliganism have long been features of Indonesian football, particularly in places like the capital Jakarta, but the scale of Saturday’s disaster in the Java city has left the small community unmoved.

“Lives are more precious than football”

The Indonesian daily Koran Tempo published a front page in black on Monday, focusing on the words “Our football tragedy” printed in red as well as a list of the dead.

Home team Arema FC lost the match 3-2 to Persebaya Surabaya, although authorities said tickets were not issued to Persebaya fans due to security concerns.

Mahfud said on Sunday that the stadium was filled beyond capacity.

Some 42,000 tickets were issued for a stadium designed to accommodate 38,000 people, he said.

In tears, Arema FC president Gilang Widya Pramana on Monday apologized to the victims of the stampede and said he took full responsibility.

“Lives are more precious than football,” he told a news conference.

In a speech Sunday, Pope Francis said he prayed for those who lost their lives and for those injured in the disaster.

FIFA, which called the incident “a dark day for all those involved in football and a tragedy beyond comprehension”, has asked Indonesian football authorities for a report on the incident.

In 1964, 328 people were killed in a stampede when Peru hosted Argentina at the Estadio Nacional in Lima.

During a British disaster in 1989, 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death when a crowded, fenced-in enclosure collapsed at Hillsborough Stadium. in Sheffield.

Reuters/AP/ABC