Sad! At least 174 dead, 180 injured in Indonesia stadium stampede

No fewer than 174 people have died in a stampede at an Indonesian football match that has become one of the world’s worst stadium disasters.

According to the BBC, about 180 were also hurt in the crush after home team Arema FC lost to bitter rivals at the overcrowded stadium late on Saturday in Malang, East Java.

The stampede took place after police tear-gassed fans who invaded the pitch.

As panic spread, thousands surged towards the exits, where many suffocated.

Initial reports put the death toll at about 130, but the East Java’s deputy governor, Emil Dardak, later announced a significant rise that put the figure at 174, adding that 11 more people were seriously injured.

President Joko Widodo has ordered that all matches in Indonesia’s top league must be stopped until an investigation has been carried out.

Indonesia’s chief security minister said spectators exceeded Kanjuruhan stadium’s stated 38,000 capacity by abound 4,000 people.

Videos from the stadium show fans running on to the pitch after the final whistle marked the home team’s 2-3 defeat.

Police then fired tear gas, leading to a crowd stampede and cases of suffocation, said Nico Afinta, police chief in East Java.

“It had gotten anarchic. They started attacking officers, they damaged cars,” he said, adding that two police officers were among the dead.

“We would like to convey that… not all of them were anarchic. Only about 3,000 who entered the pitch,” he said.

Fleeing fans “went out to one point at the exit. Then there was a build-up, in the process of accumulation there was shortness of breath, lack of oxygen”, he added.

Videos on social media show fans clambering over fences to escape. Separate videos appear to show lifeless bodies on the floor.

Fifa, the world’s governing football body, states that no “crowd control gas” should be carried or used by stewards or police at matches.

The Indonesian football association (PSSI) said it had launched an investigation, adding that the incident had “tarnished the face of Indonesian football”.

Violence at football matches is not new in Indonesia, and Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya are long-time rivals.

However Persebaya Surabaya fans were banned from buying tickets for the game because of fears of clashes.

Chief Security Minister Mahfud MD posted on Instagram that 42,000 tickets had been sold for the match at the Kanjuruhan stadium.

President Widodo called for this to be the “last soccer tragedy in the nation” after ordering that all Liga 1 games should be paused pending an investigation.