Indonesia soccer stadium riot kills 125

Indonesia on Monday assembled an independent team to investigate a soccer stadium riot that killed 125 people, including 32 children, as the country’s human rights commission questions police use of tear gas.

Panicking fans were crushed as they tried to escape the packed stadium in Malangue, East Java, on Saturday after police fired tear gas to disperse supporters of the defeated home team who rushed onto the field at the end of the championship match. national.

At least 32 of the victims were children aged between 3 and 17, Nahar, a member of the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, told Reuters. Nahar had previously put the number of child deaths at 17.

Indonesia’s Chief Security Minister Mahfud MD said the government will form an independent fact-finding team, including academics, football experts and government officials, to investigate what happened.

The government will provide 50 million rupees (about R$16,880) in compensation to each of the victims’ families, while hundreds more injured will be treated free of charge, he added.

Police and sports authorities have been dispatched to Malangue to investigate what is one of the deadliest stadium tragedies around the world. President Joko Widodo has ordered the football association to suspend all domestic league games until the investigation is complete.

Violence and vandalism have been hallmarks of Indonesian football, especially in places like Jakarta, the capital, but the scale of Saturday’s disaster in this Java town has left the small community numb.

Mahfud said on Sunday that the stadium was filled to capacity. About 42,000 tickets were issued for a stadium designed to seat 38,000 people, he said.

FIFA, which called the incident a “dark day for everyone involved in football and a tragedy beyond comprehension”, asked Indonesian football authorities for a report on the incident.