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Security, legal experts talk better ways to handle unruly sports crowds
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Scene of the crime: Tear gas canisters fly over the playing field at Kanjuruhan Stadium after the match between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya in Malang, East Java, on Saturday. (Kompas.com/Imron Hakiki) (Kompas.com/Imron Hakiki)
Following the recent Kanjuruhan tragedy, experts weigh in on handling crowds the right way.
In one of the worst soccer tragedies in history, at least 125 people died and more than 300 were injured after a match between archrivals Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya in Malang, East Java, on Saturday. Police fired tear gas into the stadium in response to fans storming the playing field.
Video footage and testimonies on social media indicate that the police shot tear gas inside the stadium and into the stands in violation of international soccer governing body FIFA’s regulations.
“[The police] were shooting tear gas in stands 14, 13 and 12, where my husband and I were sitting,” 28-year-old Dewi Nur Cahyanti from Malang told The Jakarta Post, referring to the action that many attendees say caused the stampede as fans rushed for the exits to escape the painful gas.
“Many people next to me fell unconscious, couldn’t breathe and some eventually died.”
Dewi managed to escape with her husband after the first tear gas canister was shot. The stadium was some 4,000 people beyond its capacity.
