Only four paramedics were on standby inside the football stadium in Indonesia where 131 people were killed in a crowd crush, with a further 12 nearby, the head of the local public health office has said, promising a thorough evaluation of the response.
The match was not considered to be a high-risk event because only fans of Arema, the home side, were present, said Wiyanto Wijoyo, the head of Malang regency public health office. Supporters of the opposing team, Persebaya Surabaya, who won the match, had been banned as a precaution to prevent violence between rival fans.
“We estimated that it should be a safe and harmless match. The incident that took place on October 1 was purely out of our predictions,” he said. The number of ambulances on standby at matches depends upon the requests made by the Liga Indonesia Baru committee, which organises all football matches in Indonesia, he said.
After the disaster, Indonesia’s chief security minister, Mahfud MD, said that 42,000 tickets had been issued for a stadium that holds a maximum of 38,000 people.
Wiyanto said paramedics faced difficulties getting inside the stadium and that the response was also hampered by the chaotic scenes in surrounding streets, which were packed with traffic, slowing down emergency vehicles.
Chaos descended on the stadium after a pitch invasion by fans prompted police to fire teargas, including, witnesses say, into the stands, without warning. The use of teargas inside the stadium, which is counter to Fifa guidance, caused panic as people rushed to leave. Delays in unlocking stadium gates also contributed to the disaster, according to Indonesia’s national football association.
In total, 547 were injured in the incident, which was one of the world’s deadliest sports stadium disasters.
“We were going in with limited personnel, while the casualties outnumbered us. We eventually requested backups and all ambulances in Malang regency were deployed. There were about 50 more ambulances assisting to transport people with severe conditions on the brink of death, as well as bodies to be taken to the nearest hospital,” he said.
The 50 ambulances deployed included privately owned vehicles, efforts by citizens as well as the government.
“The obstacles were not just a case of medical readiness. But also the distance between the nearest hospital and the stadium, as it is indeed quite far. And when I arrived, a lot of casualties couldn’t make it,” said Wiyanto, who was deployed to Wava Husada hospital and Kanjuruhan hospital
Some of the injured were also referred to Saiful Anwar hospital, he said, which takes 90 minutes to two hours by car.
Hospitals too struggled to cope with the number of wounded, he added.
“Our staff was overwhelmed as the number of patients outnumbered us in the hospitals. None of the medical staff were prepared for it. This incident happened in the blink of an eye.
“We’ll do a thorough evaluation from this incident and take lessons from it,” he said.
A fact-finding team has also been established by the Indonesian government to investigate the disaster, while President Joko Widodo has also ordered an audit of stadiums across the country.
Six people, including police and match organisers, are facing criminal charges over the disaster. Police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo told a news conference on Friday that the suspects include the administrator of the country’s top professional football division, who is responsible for ensuring that stadiums have proper operating certificates. Prabowo alleged the stadium in Malang city did not meet the requirements for certification and had not been properly verified.
Three police officers who used teargas, the head of the organising committee and the chief security officer of the home club, Arema FC, have also been charged.
They are charged with criminal negligence causing death, which carries a maximum five-year prison sentence if found guilty.
Widodo said the country will not face sanctions from Fifa over the incident, stating that the body’s president, Giani Infantino, had written to him to say the country will remain the host of next year’s U-20 World Cup joined by 24 countries from five continents.
