• Tragedy in Indonesia Criticism erupts against police for firing tear gas at stadium

Muhammad Irsyad Aljuned's mother has covered the earthen grave where she has just buried her son with rose petals.

After the

ghusl

, the complete washing of the body as marked by the Islamic rite, the family wrapped the corpse with the

kafan

, pieces of white cloth, and proceeded with the

salat

, the funeral prayer.

Irsyad was 17 years old.

He suffocated to death on Saturday night after being trapped under a human mountain that formed at one of the Kanjuruhan Stadium exits, the protagonist of one of the worst tragedies in football history.

Irsyad was an

aremania

, as supporters of Arema FC, one of East Java's historic clubs, are known in the Indonesian city of Malang.

The fans of this team have served as a refuge for hundreds of young people from poor villages who seek an escape route in football.

Irsyad found her.

He didn't miss any matches, as did his cousins ​​Blitar and Kusaeni.

They, too, were crushed to death in the Kanjuruhan stampede.

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The graveyard of football in Indonesia: stampede with 125 dead in a stadium in East Java

  • Writing: LUCAS DE LA CAL (Correspondent) Asia

The graveyard of football in Indonesia: stampede with 125 dead in a stadium in East Java

After the final whistle of the Java derby between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya, thousands of supporters of the local team interrupted the field.

Irsyad and his cousins, on the other hand, stayed in the stands, in their usual seats in grandstand 12, contemplating the chaos that had formed on the pitch:

Arema footballers running towards the changing rooms chased by hooligans pissed off by the defeat of his team, supporters fighting each other and police trying to disperse the crowd, first with batons, and then with tear gas that they also fired into the stands

.

One of the boats landed on Grandstand 12.

"Many passed out from suffocation, while others panicked and ran towards some exits that were blocked,"

says Faisol, father of another teenager who was also in grandstand 12. His son fell to the ground during the stampede and was crushed the legs.

But in the end he managed to get out.

Irsyad and her cousins ​​did not have the same luck.

Neither did Faiqotul Hikmah, a 22-year-old girl who was trampled to death in the same field.

Nor her friend Noval Putra (19 years old), who could not be revived at the hospital.

Fans try to evacuate a man during the stampede.ANTARA PHOTO

Indonesian authorities said on Sunday that

125 people had been killed in the stampede at the stadium.

In addition, 302 people suffered minor injuries and 21 are admitted to hospital with a serious part

.

Among the deceased there are 17 children, the youngest was only five years old.

There are also two police officers among the victims.

One of them, Fajar Yoyok Pujiono, was a veteran agent assigned to a squad with the mission of breaking up the usual fights between the ultras of the Java teams every weekend.

Fajar leaves behind a widow, three children and a mother whose photo caressing his son's tombstone has become one of the images of the tragedy used by the Indonesian police to defend the actions of their agents.

In the last hours, the security body has been criticized for having launched tear gas against the fans, which caused stampedes and that the fight to leave the stadium became an act of survival.

"We took a preventive action before finally firing the tear gas when the fanatics started attacking the police, acting lawlessly and burning vehicles," said East Java Police Chief Nico Afinta.

"I saw many friends die"

Several testimonies collected by local media and international agencies disapprove of the police action.

"I saw many friends die, the police did not treat us like human beings," Sam Gilang, a 22-year-old survivor, who lost three colleagues in the stampede, told AFP.

"People were pushing each other and many were trampled on their way to the exit gate. My eyes were burning from the tear gas. Luckily I managed to scale the fence and survived."

Rangga, another fan who also managed to get out of the stadium, said the officers fired five bursts of tear gas, three into the field and two into the stands that were full of fans.

"The mixed zone became a humanitarian corridor. People were carrying bodies back and forth

," Rangga said.

Some members of Arema FC have attended some media to describe the scene of terror after the match.

"

Four fans died in our hands

," Javier Roca, Arema's Chilean coach, told Cadena Ser, recalling that the use of tear gas is prohibited by FIFA.

"Many of the 42,000 fans there - the stadium has an official capacity for 38,000 people - tried to flee, but the entrances were collapsed. Some drowned and others were crushed at the exit," Roca recalled.

"We knew it was a high-tension derby, but what we experienced had nothing to do with football. At the end of the game we walked around the stadium to thank them for their support and apologize for the defeat. However,

when our fans They invaded the grass, we realized that everything could be unleashed and we started running

, "Sérgio Silva, a Portuguese soccer player from Arema, told MARCA.

The stands of the Kanjuruhan stadium. AFP

Another local team player, Luso-Guinean striker Abel Camará, explained to CNN that, when the match ended, the team had to barricade themselves in the locker room, blocking the door with a table, because the enraged fans wanted to come in and hit them.

"It was at that moment when we began to hear screams and shots, and to see a lot of smoke.

Some fans managed to enter our locker room and ended up dying right there. We had about seven or eight deaths in the locker room

," Camará revealed.

"My brothers were killed. Investigate thoroughly"

On Monday, a statue of a lion outside the stadium woke up surrounded by flower petals.

The night before there was a vigil there that was held in tribute to the victims.

"My brothers were murdered. Please investigate thoroughly," read a message scrawled on a fence near the stadium.

The authorities have promised that they will investigate what happened.

On Monday, Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali said he had been asked by President Joko Widodo to visit Malang for an assessment.

The Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) has suspended all matches this week and banned Arema from hosting any more matches for the rest of the season

.

"All those responsible must be held accountable for this disaster, regardless of their status or position.

It is not enough for the national police and the Indonesian Football Association to carry out their own investigation because they may be tempted to downplay or undermine full responsibility ."

of the officials involved

," claims Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Amnesty International also called for an exhaustive independent investigation with the participation of FIFA because they consider that the police used "excessive force" to disperse the fans.

The Indonesian authorities have promised that they will review all the security measures of the stadiums of the 18 teams of the Indonesian Premier League

so that a similar tragedy does not happen again related to a sport dominated by the violence of ultras that have spent years leaving a blood trail on the island of Java.

In Indonesia, many remember what happened four years ago: the murder of a young fan of the Jakarta team with sticks and stones at the hands of ultras from the rival team.

His murder shocked the country because it was recorded with a mobile phone and even ended up published on YouTube.


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