Malang, Indonesia – Witnesses to the Indonesian football stadium disaster which killed at least 125 people and left hundreds injured have accused police of firing tear gas into spectator stands and blocking gates as people tried to flee the chaos.
One of the deadliest sporting tragedies ever occurred on Saturday evening at the Kanjuruhan football stadium in Indonesia’s East Java province, where witnesses told of violence between fans and police, deaths of spectators, and how they had managed to survive.
“It was horrifying”, Rahmawati said, telling of how she saw police and soldiers hit men and women with batons “until their bones broke”, and how she had witnessed spectators attacking the police and also attack other spectators who tried to stop the violence.
“When I heard news of the riot on Saturday, I thought my brother would be OK because he and his friends are very responsible,” she said, recounting how her brother’s whereabouts were eventually discovered in the early hours of Sunday morning.
“The chaos would not have happened if they did not shoot the tear gas.
According to her friends, she was sitting on the grandstand the last time they saw her,” Hamsa said.