Indonesia football stadium disaster: pressure grows over police response

Indonesian police are facing increasing pressure over their management of crowds during the Kanjuruhan stadium disaster, where at least 125 people, including dozens of children, were killed in a crush of fleeing spectators.

Officers fired teargas in response to a pitch invasion by fans at the overcrowded stadium in Malang regency, East Java, on Saturday night, creating panic among supporters. Three witnesses told the Guardian teargas was fired not only at fans on the pitch but also at crowds who had remained in the stands, and that no warning was given.

Huge numbers scrambled to escape, prompting a deadly rush in which many were suffocated or crushed. A further 323 people were injured, some of whom are in critical condition. At least 32 children were among those killed. The youngest was aged three or four, according to an official.

“I held out in the stands even as the gas strangled my throat,” said one fan who struggled to leave because the exit was packed with people. In my 20 years as an [Arema fan], I have never felt as terrified as I did that night.”

Fifa stadium safety guidance states that “crowd control gas” should not be carried or used by stewards or police inside stadiums.

Indonesia’s chief security minister, Mahfud MD, said on Monday an independent fact-finding team would be formed to investigate the disaster.

Separately, a national police spokesperson, Dedy Prasetyo, said 18 officers responsible for firing teargas, ranging from middle- to high-ranking, were being investigated along with “internal matters related to security management”. Witnesses were being questioned and mobile phone and security camera footage examined, he added.

Rights experts have demanded that any inquiry be fully impartial.

Phil