Indonesian local government revised to 125 deaths in soccer field disaster

One day has passed since the mass death of spectators in an Indonesian professional football stadium, but local authorities are also confusing the number of deaths.

According to Antara News on the 2nd (local time), Deputy Governor Emil Elastianto Dardak of Indonesia's eastern Java province, where the accident occurred, confirmed that the number of fatalities in the accident was 125, not 174.

Lieutenant Governor Emil said that the list of patients was sometimes duplicated as patients moved from one hospital to another.

He added that police reviewed data from 10 hospitals and found the death toll to be 125.

Earlier, the East Java State Department of Disaster Management (BPPD) announced that 174 people were killed in the accident.

However, the Malang Health Center in Malang Regency, where the stadium is located, reported the death toll at 131, and the East Java State Police also announced that the death toll was 127.

It is said that some seriously injured people are still being treated in this chaos, so the death toll may change again.

The accident occurred the night before after a soccer team match between 'Arema FC' and 'Persebaya Surabaya' at Kanjuruhan Soccer Field in Malang Regency, East Java, Indonesia.

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After Arema FC's 23-year loss to Persevaya Surabaya in their first home match, some of the angry home team spectators rushed into the stadium to protest the players and team officials, and shortly thereafter the stadium filled with thousands of spectators. .

Police fired tear gas in the process of suppressing the intruding crowd, and thousands of spectators ran towards the exit to avoid the tear gas and became entangled, leading to mass deaths.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in a statement that he expressed his "deep condolences to the victims and their families" and directed the Chief of Police to investigate the incident thoroughly.

In addition, the Indonesian Football Association has asked the Indonesian Football Association to temporarily suspend the professional football league until improvements are made for the recurrence of the accident.

There is also criticism that the Indonesian police broke the rules of the International Football Federation (FIFA), which banned the use of tear gas by the police, and carried out excessive suppression, which led to a major accident.