MALANG, Indonesia — At least 32 children died in
Indonesia’s stadium crush, an official
said Monday as police moved to punish those responsible for one of the
deadliest disasters in football history.
اضافة اعلان
The tragedy on
Saturday night in the city of Malang saw a total of 125 people killed and 323
others injured after officers fired tear gas in a packed stadium to quell a
pitch invasion, triggering a stampede.
Dozens of children
caught in the chaos lost their lives, an official at the women’s empowerment
and child protection ministry told AFP.
“From the latest
data we received, out of 125 people who died in the accident, 32 of them were
children, with the youngest being a toddler aged three or four,” said Nahar,
who like many Indonesians goes by only one name.
As anger mounted
against police, Indonesia’s chief security minister Mahfud MD announced a task
force had been formed to investigate and called for those responsible to be
punished.
“We asked (police)
to unveil who has perpetrated the crimes and take action against them and we
also hope the national police will evaluate their security procedures,” he said
in a broadcast statement.
The police force
sacked its local chief in Malang within hours of the minister’s speech.
East Java police
also suspended nine officers on the instruction of the national police force,
national police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo told a press conference, without
providing details about their role in the tragedy.
With police and
sports officials on their way to Malang to investigate, Indonesia’s National
Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) levelled criticism at officers.
“If there was no
tear gas, maybe there wouldn’t have been chaos,” Commissioner Choirul Anam told
a briefing.
‘We want
accountability’
Saturday’s incident unfolded when fans of home team Arema FC stormed the
pitch at the Kanjuruhan stadium after their loss 3–2 to bitter rivals Persebaya
Surabaya.
Police responded
by launching tear gas into packed terraces, prompting spectators to rush en
masse to small gates where many were trampled or suffocated, according to
witnesses.
Police described
the incident as a riot and said two officers were killed, but survivors accuse
them of overreacting and causing the deaths of scores of spectators.
One witness
outside the stadium said police refused to help when the crush happened.
‘Full responsibility’
In a tearful live address, Arema FC president Gilang Widya Pramana apologized
for the tragedy.
“I, as the
president of Arema FC, will take full responsibility for the incident that
occurred,” he said.
The Arema squad
visited the site of the crush on Monday wearing black shirts to pay their
respects and lay flowers before gathering on the pitch to pray for victims.
Newspaper Kompas
published a black front page with the word “tragedy” and a stadium bearing the
names of victims.
Graffiti daubed on
the walls of the venue revealed bubbling anger towards authorities.
“My siblings were
killed. Investigate thoroughly,” read one message scrawled on the stadium’s
shutters, accompanied by a black ribbon and the date of the disaster.
“ACAB”, an acronym
for “all cops are bastards”, was sprayed on another wall.
Indonesian
President Joko Widodo ordered compensation for families of the victims to the
tune of 50 million rupiah ($3,200) each, a minister said on Monday.
He has also
suspended football matches until security improves and announced a probe.
Mahfud said the
task force for the investigation would consist of government and football
officials, academics and members of the media.
He said the probe
would be “concluded in the next two or three weeks”.
But Human Rights Watch
said the police and Indonesia’s football association “may be tempted to
downplay or undermine full accountability for officials”.
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