Six people are facing criminal charges following a stampede at a football match in Indonesia which killed at least 131 people.
The stampede was caused after police fired tear gas into the crowd to try and disperse Arema FC fans who had stormed the pitch following their team’s defeat against Persebaya Surabaya FC. It is among the worst sporting disasters ever.
Police chief, Listyo Sigit Prabowo, told reporters that those facing charges are the administrator of the country’s top professional division, three police officers and the head of the organising committee and the chief security officer of the home club, Arema FC.
Those accused face criminal charges of negligence causing death, which carries a maximum five-year prison sentence if found guilty.
The police claim the club’s officials had not complied with safety requirements and that the league administrator did not ensure that the stadium fitted operating requirements.
Police officials have said the exits where fleeing people escaped were too narrow to pass through, while the country’s football association said some exits were locked.
Arema FC coach Javier Roca who was left “mentally shattered” by the tragedy said: “I saw the tragedy. The boys passed by with victims in their arms.”
At least five police vehicles were toppled and set ablaze outside the stadium.
“If there hadn’t been any tear gas maybe there wouldn’t have been chaos,” Choirul Anam, a commissioner at Indonesia’s National Commission on Human Rights, known as Komnas HAM, told a news briefing on Monday.
