Oct. 2 (EUROPA PRESS) –
At least 129 people have died in Indonesia as a result of riots at the Kanjuruhan stadium after a soccer match between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya, where security forces responded with the use of tear gas.
The chief inspector general of the East Java Police, Nico Afinta, explained that the protests were generated after the defeat of Arema FC against the opponent, according to the local media ‘Suryamalang’. The fans of the losing team jumped onto the playing field with the intention of demanding explanations for the result.
Anfinta has affirmed that the security guards took preventive and diversionary measures so that “the chaos would not escalate” which has included the use of tear gas. According to the news portal ‘Medcom.id’, at the moment the death of 129 people has been confirmed.
The head of the Police has confirmed that 34 of them died in the stadium, while the rest did so during their transfer to hospital. Most of them did so due to lack of oxygen during the stampede, as reported by the DPA agency.
In addition, Anfita has reported that another 180 were waiting to be treated in hospitals near the soccer field.
For its part, the Indonesian football federation PSSI has stated that it “regrets the actions of the fans” and has reported that it has formed an investigation team that has moved to the city of Malang where the stadium is located.
In addition, PSSI has indicated that it supports the Police in the investigation of the case and has assured that this incident “is staining the face of Indonesian football.”
“For the time being, we will stop the 2022/2023 League 1 competition for one week. In addition, the Arema FC team is prohibited from hosting for the rest of the competition this season,” the federation said in a press release.
