JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian police said on Sunday that 127 people had died and 180 were injured after a stampede following crowd trouble at a football match in the province of East Java overnight.
After the match between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya had ended, supporters from the losing team had invaded the pitch and police had fired tear gas, triggering a stampede and cases of suffocation, East Java police chief Nico Afinta told reporters.
Video footage from local news channels showed people rushing onto the pitch in the stadium in Malang and images of body bags.
The Indonesian top league BRI Liga 1 has suspended games for a week following the match that Persebaya won 3-2 and an investigation had been launched, the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) said.
There have been previous outbreaks of trouble at matches in Indonesia, with a strong rivalry between clubs sometimes leading to violence among supporters.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk, and Stefanno Sulamain and Stanley Widianto in Jakarta; Editing by Christian Radnedge and Ed Davies)
