Clashes between supporters of two Indonesian football teams in East Java killed at least 147 fans and two police officers, with police saying most of the victims were trampled to death.
Several brawls between supporters of the two rival teams were reported inside the stadium in Malang, some 60 miles south Surabaya, after the Indonesian Premier League game ended with Persebaya Surabaya beating Arema Malang 3-2.
The fights prompted riot police to fire tear gas, which caused panic among supporters, said East Java police chief Nico Afinta.
Hundreds of people ran to an exit gate in an effort to avoid the tear gas. Some suffocated in the chaos and others were trampled, with 34 killed almost instantly.
More than 300 were rushed to nearby hospitals to treat injuries but many died on the way and during treatment, Mr Afinta said.
He said the death toll is likely to increase because many of the approximately 180 injured who are receiving intensive treatment at various hospitals are deteriorating.
Indonesia’s football association, known as PSSI, has suspended the premier league Liga 1 indefinitely in light of the tragedy and banned Arema from hosting matches for the remainder of the season.
Television reports showed police and rescuers evacuating the injured and carrying the dead to ambulances.
Grieving relatives waited for information about their loved ones at Malang’s Saiful Anwar General Hospital. Others tried to identify the bodies laid out at a morgue.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo expressed his deep condolences for the dead in televised comments on Sunday.
“I deeply regret this tragedy and I hope this is the last soccer tragedy in this country. Don’t let another human tragedy like this happen in the future,” he said. “We must continue to maintain sportsmanship, humanity and a sense of brotherhood of the Indonesian nation.”
Saturday’s game is already among the world’s worst crowd disasters, including the 1996 World Cup qualifier between Guatemala and Costa Rica in Guatemala City where more than 80 died and some 100 others were injured.
In April 2001, more than 40 people were crushed to death during a football match at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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