There was tear gas everywhere, say survivors of Indonesia’s football match stampede

MALANG, Indonesia: Football fan Firari Vilallah never imagined a football match of his favourite club Arema FC would claim the lives of at least 125 people. 

Playing on home soil, Arema FC lost the match 3-2 with rival Persebaya Surabaya on Saturday (Oct 1) night. 

But as Vilallah was about to leave the Kanjuruhan Stadium in the city of Malang in East Java, he was stuck at the exit with thousands of others who were trying to run out. 

“There was tear gas everywhere, so the supporters ran frantically. 

“And people pushed each other, so many couldn’t even move,” the 22-year-old told CNA.   

Vilallah and his brother eventually managed to escape the stadium alive. 

But then he saw his friend Evi Syaila, who was laying near the exit gate. 

He brought the 18-year-old back to her house thinking she did not suffer from any serious injuries. 

However, when Syaila woke up on Sunday morning, she couldn’t eat or drink.

“Everything hurts. My stomach hurts,” she said. Syaila was brought to a local hospital in Malang and doctors told her she needed to be hospitalised.

She believed someone stepped on her during the stampede but added that she could not remember what exactly happened. 

“It happened so sudden. I was shocked,” said Syaila who is in her final year of secondary school.

While both of them managed to survive the tragedy, Vilalllah lost four of his friends. 

“I only learnt about it afterwards at about 3am. A man and three women,” he told CNA. 

Both Vilallah and Syaila have watched live matches of Arema FC multiple times. 

But Saturday’s disaster is the worst they both have witnessed. 

After the match, thousands of angry fans stormed the football pitch and police fired with tear gas into the crowd, triggering a stampede and cases of