A soccer stampede in Indonesia killed at least 125 people on the weekend, with 17 children among them, officials said, as pressure builds on the Southeast Asian nation to explain how one of the world’s worst stadium disasters unfolded.
READ: Stampede, riot at Indonesia soccer match kill 129, police say
- Officers fired tear gas on Saturday night to disperse agitated supporters of the losing home side who invaded the pitch after the final whistle in the East Java town of Malang. Arema FC lost 3-2 to Persebaya Surabaya in the local BRI Liga 1 match.
- About 42,000 tickets had been issued for a stadium designed to hold 38,000 people, Indonesia’s chief security minister, Mahfud MD, said in an Instagram post.
- An independent fact-finding team will investigate the sequence of events and help find those responsible for the disaster, Mahfud told a news conference on Monday.
- Gilang Widya Pramana, the president of home side Arema FC, said he was ready to take full responsibility.
- FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, has asked Indonesian football authorities for a report on the incident. Its safety regulations say firearms or “crowd control gas” should not be used at matches.
—Compiled by Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
READ: Indonesia president orders soccer security probe after deadly riot
