Stampede: 125 killed in Indonesia in post-football-match chaos

Jakarta: A stampede during a football match here in Indonesia killed at least 125 people and injured dozens more on Sunday. Reuters reported that crowd trouble sparked the stampede in the East Java province during an overnight match.

East Java police Police informed that after the match between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya ended, fans from the losing side invaded the ground, prompting police to fire teargas. This triggered the stampede and suffocation. "It had gotten anarchic. They started attacking officers, they damaged cars," he said, adding that two police officers were among the deceased. "We would like to convey that not all of them were anarchic. Only about 3,000 who entered the pitch," he said.

Fans who fled the ground got stopped at one exit, choking the exit and causing shortness of breath and suffocation, the officer said.

Indonesia's Chief Security Minister said that the stadium was over crowded after the attendance overtook the capacity of the stadium by around 4,000, BBC reported. The President Widodo ordered that all the matches in the ongoing league to be stopped until a probe is done on the unfortunate incident. Earlier, the Indonesian top league BRI Liga 1 suspended matches for a week. The Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) said that an investigation into the incident had been initiated.

Reuters reported that video footage from local news channels showed people running into the pitch in the stadium in Malang and visuals of body bags. There were footage that showed fans clambering over fences to escape.

Persebaya won the Sunday match 3-2. IANS reports that there was a ban on Persebaya fans from buying tickets for the match since the rivalary between fans of the two

In Indonesia, there have been previous incidents of trouble and chaos post football matches as strong rivalry prevails among clubs.