Indonesia stampede is one of professional sports’ deadliest

One of professional sports’ deadliest stadium tragedies occurred late on Saturday as at least 174 people were killed and many more injured in a stampede in Malang, Indonesia.

Arema FC slumped to a 3-2 defeat against rivals, prompting their fans to storm the pitch in the East Java province. The police retaliated by use of tear gas, which led to one of modern football’s worst stampedes.

Here’s a look at some of the other biggest football stadium disasters:

1. The Luzhniki disaster (Russia, 1982)

During a UEFA Cup match between Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem in 1982 at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, several fans were crushed in the stadium in a crowd collapse. After a woman stopped to look for a lost shoe in the stands, those helping her were crushed by a dense crowd, with many tripping over bodies on the way out as well.

The official death toll reported at the time was 66, but Russian authorities have been accused of a cover-up, with reports suggesting the death total reached 340.

2. Stampede at Accra Stadium (Ghana, 2001)

Asante Kotoko fans, in reaction to seeing their team lose Hearts of Oak 2-1 just after halftime, began smashing and throwing chairs and tables onto the field. Police responded with tear gas, prompting fans to try to leave the 50,000-capacity stadium.

It resulted in one of the world’s worst sports stadium disasters, killing 126 people in a stampede. Many of the dead were crushed or suffocated.

3. Hillsborough



disaster (England, 1989)

In an FA Cup semi-final tie between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium in 1989, 96 of the Merseyside team’s fans were crushed to death when one of the stands collapsed.

The police commissioner at the time opened Gate C of the central standing pens in one of the stands to prevent overcrowding, but too many entered, crushing the stadium and killing more people than any other tragedy in British sport.

4. Dasharath Stadium Crushing (Nepal 1988)

During a football match between the Janakpur Cigarette Factory and the Bangalesh Liberation Army, a total of 93 people lost their lives in a crush following a storm.

A hail storm, typical of Nepalese weather in March, broke out during the match and caused a full-scale panic, with fans flocking to the single deck of the stadium. This met resistance from the police, causing fans to move towards an exit through a tunnel entrance, where the overcrowding led to a massive crush.

5. Oversold tickets cause stampede at WC Qualifier (Guatemala, 1996)

During a World Cup qualifying match between Costa Rica and Guatemala in 1996 in Guatemala City, at least 83 people were killed in a stampede in an overcrowded stadium.

After the venue, the Mateo Flores National Stadium in the country’s capital, tickets were oversold, fans who were not allowed to enter the stadium stormed the entrance, causing a massive stampede in the crowded entrance tunnel . Fans were trampled or suffocated to death.