By Edet Ikotidem
Football fans ‘died in the arms’ of players during a melee at Indonesia’s Kanjuruhan stadium, the local team’s coach says, as the number of children killed in the tragedy rises to 32.
Javier Roca said the crowd at the match in Java, in which 125 people lost their lives, left him “mentally shaken”.
Authorities said the youngest victim of Saturday’s disaster was just three years old.
Around 18 officers are under investigation after police fired tear gas at fans who entered the pitch after the match ended.
More than 320 other people were injured when supporters were stomped on and suffocated as they ran from the gas. Indonesia’s Deputy Minister for Children and Women said the children were between 3 and 17 years old.
An eyewitness said police fired numerous gas projectiles “continuously and rapidly” after the situation with fans became “tense”. Fans of home side Arema FC ran onto the pitch as the game ended in a 3-2 loss to rivals Persebaya Surabaya.
Videos on social media show fans climbing fences to escape. Individual videos appeared to show lifeless bodies on the ground.
A witness, Chandra said that a sea of smoke in the stands caused immediate panic among onlookers. “Little babies cried, women fainted, screamed everywhere, they all poured out,” she said.
Another fan, Eko, said he was unable to get out of the grandstand exits due to the number of people trying to escape.
“I went back to the top of the stands with friends. Then I used a scarf to keep the smoke out. Then I jumped into the field and went down through the side door, “he said.
Ester Andayanengtyas said that her 17-year-old daughter Debora suffered severe injuries during the panic, including a broken neck and swollen brain.
“I asked her not to watch the game that day. She didn’t come home, her friends were looking for her in the morning,” said Ms. Andayanengtyas. “We looked for her in the emergency room, but she wasn’t there. The hospital told us that we had to look at the morgue.
The confusion took place because my daughter did not have an identity document. ”
Other witnesses reported hearing the parents screaming “where is my son” under chaos and a man said that he saw his parents collapse while he protected their children.
“A mother passed out while she hugged her son, next to her fainting her”, he said. “So some supporters collected the mother and the boy to leave the stadium. They didn’t know he was worn when they were, it was because of tear gas.”
Muhamad Dipo Maulana, 21 years old, who was in the game hinted that after the game some fans of Arema went to the game to protest with fun in the house, but were immediately intercepted by the police and “beaten”. More spectators then took to the square in protest, the supporter said.
“Police with dogs, shields, and soldiers came forward. He said he heard more than 20 tear gas fired at spectators in the stadium.
Also read: Arsenal Maintain Lead in Premier League After Beating Tottenham Hotspur 3-1
Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo told reporters that the officers under investigation were “responsible for the possession of the weapons” and were being questioned by an internal affairs team.
He added that several other officials, including the field security team, and some Indonesian Football League officials are also under investigation.
The Indonesian Human Rights Commission has said it will conduct its own investigation into the disaster and President Joko Widodo has ordered all matches in the Indonesian top division suspended until the official investigation is carried out.
Amnesty International said the police response amounted to ‘excessive use of force by the state to control an unarmed crowd, and protesters in the capital Jakarta held up signs reading ‘Stop police brutality on Sunday evening.
Indonesian police have previously come under fire for their frequent use of tear gas in crowded stadiums.
Meanwhile, Arema FC coach Mr. Roca told Spanish TV channel Cadena Ser that he believed ‘the police had overstepped their bounds in trying to control the crowd.
The announcement of the investigation comes after world football governing body Fifa described the disaster as “a dark day for all involved in football and an unimaginable tragedy”. Under FIFA rules, no “crowd control gas” can be carried or used by stewards or police during matches and the agency has asked the Indonesian Football Association to report on the incident.
Security Minister Mahfud MD wrote on Instagram that the stadium was overcrowded, with more than 42,000 tickets sold for the match in the 38,000-seat stadium. “He had become an anarchist. They started attacking the police, they damaged cars,” said Nico Afinta, East Java police chief, adding that two police officers were among the dead.
“We want to convey that … not all of them were anarchists. Only about 3,000 entered the field, “she said.
The fleeing fans “went to a point at the exit. Then there was a build-up, in the build-up process there was shortness of breath, lack of oxygen,” the officer added.
