Riot At Indonesian Football Match Leaves Over 100 Dead

At least 129 people died and 180 were injured in a stampede at a football stadium in Indonesia following the police's use of tear gas to disperse rioting fans on the pitch.

Supporters of Javanese clubs Arema and Persebaya Surabaya clashed after the former lost 3-2 in Malang Regency, East Java.

East Java's police chief Nico Afinta said authorities responded by using tear gas on the crowd that stormed the pitch, resulting in a stampede that led to people being trampled or choked to death.

As per the head of the Malang Regency health office, Wiyanto Wijoyo, people died due to “chaos, overcrowding, trampling and suffocation.”

The police describe the incident as a “riot.” They said that they tried to persuade the fans to go back to their respective seats but failed to do so and were forced to use tear gad.

Most of those who died were crushed and suffocated when bulk of the audience tried to squeeze themselves all at once at the exit doors.

"In the incident, 127 people died, two of whom are police officers. Thirty-four people died inside the stadium and the rest died in hospital," Afinta said in a statement on Sunday.

Police later revised the detath toll to 129, making it one of the world's deadliest sporting stadium tragedies.

One of the doctors who attended to the the victims told a local TV station that one of the fans who died in the event was only five years old.

In an Instagram post, Indonesia’s chief security minister, Mohammad Mahfud Mahmodin, said the number of spectators inside the stadium exceeded its normal capacity.

He said 42,000 tickets had been officially issued by the stadium when the vicinity can only hold 38,000 people.

The Indonesian government apologized over the incident and promised an investigation.

"We're sorry for this incident... this is a regrettable incident that 'injures' our football at a time when supporters can watch football matches from the stadium," Indonesian Sports and Youth Minister Zainudin Amali told broadcaster Kompas.

The Indonesia football association (PSSI) also promised to look into the disaster.