INDONESIA FOOTBALL DISASTER : At least 174 people have been killed and dozens more injured in stadium stampede during a chaotic football match in Indonesian.
The tragedy happened on Saturday night in Malang. World football continues to show solidarity to the people of Indonesia.
East Java’s Vice Governor Emil Dardak confirmed the latest death toll to Kompas TV on Sunday afternoon.
“At 9:30am (0230 GMT) the death toll was 158, at 10:30am the figure rose to 174 deaths,” Dardak said as reported by Al Jazeera.
“Officers fired tear gas, and automatically people were rushing to come out, pushing each other and it caused many victims,” a 43-year-old spectator told the AFP news agency.
“Nothing was happening, there was no riot. I don’t know what the issue was, they suddenly fired tear gas. That’s what shocked me, didn’t they think about kids, women?”
INDONESIA FOOTBALL DISASTER : League halted
Indonesia President Joko Widodo has since ordered an investigation into the tragedy. The country’s football association is also asked to halt all matches until further notice.
“I deeply regret this tragedy and I hope this football tragedy will be the last in our country,” Widodo said.
What has FIFA President said ?
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the the football world was “in a state of shock”.
“All our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, those who have been injured, together with the people of the Republic of Indonesia,” he added.
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