Indonesian stadium tragedy: what we know so far

Authorities in Indonesia on Monday set up an independent team to investigate a stampede at a soccer stadium that killed 125 people, including 32 children on Saturday at Kanjuruhan stadium, Malang, East Java province. File Photo.

Authorities in Indonesia on Monday set up an independent team to investigate a stampede at a soccer stadium that killed 125 people, including 32 children on Saturday at Kanjuruhan stadium, Malang, East Java province. File Photo.

Published Oct 3, 2022

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What seemed like a normal soccer match suddenly turned into a horror, after a stampede claimed the lives of 125 people in one of the world’s most devastating sporting tragedies in history.

Indonesian authorities said on Monday that they have formed an independent fact-finding team to investigate Saturday’s deadly stampede that occurred after a football match in East Java province, a representative of the Indonesian government said.

This is what we know so far

– Dozens of Indonesian police were placed under investigation on Monday over a stampede at a soccer match that killed over 120 people.

A team was assigned directly by President Joko Widodo to find out the causes of the stampede, which had killed 125 people and injured at least 320 others.

– This team will work for a maximum of one month. All results and recommendations will be directly reported to the president, Xinhua reported on Monday.

– Arema FC supporters at the Kanjuruhan stadium stormed the pitch after their team lost 3-2 to the visiting team and bitter rivals, Persebaya Surabaya.

– According to police, who described the unrest as “riots“, they tried to force fans to return to the stands and fired tear gas after two officers were killed, AFP reports.

– One witness told the BBC that police had fired numerous tear gas rounds “continuously and fast” after the situation with fans became “tense”.

– President Widodo has ordered that all matches in Indonesia’s top league be postponed until an investigation has been carried out.