A football match turned into a tragedy in Malang, Indonesia, where more than 180 people were killed and 300 injured in a stampede. The crowds, disappointed by the loss of their favourite team in the final match of the Indonesian Premier League, were throwing stones and bottles at the police who fired teargas shells. When the people tried to escape through a single-exit point, there was a stampede. In the process, many of them were suffocated.
Jakarta (Indonesia): There was a stampede at a football match in Indonesia, killing 174 people and injuring more than 300 on Saturday, official sources said on Sunday. The incident occurred when the panicked football fans, in an attempt to flee after a riot broke out, trampled one another. The eye witnesses called it one of the world’s worst stadium disasters. More than 300 people were rushed to a hospital. Many of them died on the way or during treatment, sources further said.
It happened when a group of fans got off the stand and reached the pitch in the ground after the Indonesian Premier League. In the match, which was held in Malang, Parsebaya Surabaya defeated Arema Maland by 3-2. Disappointed by the defeat, the fans began to throw bottles and stones at the stadium, before reaching the pitch in the ground. The police, too, fired tear gas shells to quell the mob. As a result, the people began to run for cover, and, in the process 180 people were killed and more than 300 injured. Head of the East Java police Nico Afinta said that the authorities had fired tear gas shells to quell the angry mobs. Two police officers were among the dead, he further said.
A video clip of the incident went viral on social media across the world. The policemen can be seen kicking and beating up people with batons. This was what caused panic among the crowds who ran for cover.
