The deadliest stampede in Indonesian soccer history

129 dead after fans stampede to exit Indonesian soccer match in Jakarta (video)

by The Associated Press

Updated: 8:15 AM MST September 8, 2015

Jakarta (AP) — The bodies of at least 65 people were found Sunday on the ground at a soccer stadium where fans were stampeded to get out after a match between Indonesian national teams, and a senior police official said it was the deadliest stampede he had witnessed.

Jakarta police chief Siswanto told reporters that 65 people were killed and more than 100 injured when fans of the Indonesian soccer teams crashed through barricades and rushed toward exits of Bird’s Nest Stadium Saturday evening.

“It was the most violent stampede I have seen in my life and there were about 300 people,” Siswanto said. “One after the other people just disappeared.”

Siswanto said at least 13 people were killed on the floor directly outside the stadium, while fans who were trapped inside the stadium died of suffocation after jumping from the bleachers. Another seven people died in the field behind the stadium, where people were being crushed at the bottom.

Some people who were trapped in the field were able to get out by lying down under the bleachers and lifting themselves up, while others were able to climb over a fence.

At least 12 people died with their bodies found near the gates.

Siswanto said the bodies were found close to the stadium before the stampede began, when a mass of people surged to get out.

He said he believed the stampede started when a group of fans who had been watching the match for the past hour and a half suddenly gathered together.

“That’s when the stampede occurred,” he said. “At that point, the crowd surged forward to get out.”

Siswanto said the police had been trying to prevent this kind of violence in previous tournaments since the crowd was large and people were allowed to travel freely in and outside the stadium.

He said that in the past two months, the security guards at matches had stopped fans from leaving the

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