One of the deadliest stadium tragedies in professional sports occurred late Saturday as a stampede in Malang, Indonesia, killed at least 174 people and injured many others.
Arema FC lost 3–2 against rivals, causing their fans to storm the pitch in East Java Province. Police retaliated with the use of tear gas, causing the worst stampede in modern football.
Here’s a look at some of the other biggest football stadium disasters:
1. Luzhniki disaster (Russia, 1982)
During a UEFA Cup match between Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow in 1982, several fans at the stadium were crushed by a collapse of the crowd. When a woman stopped to check for a lost shoe in the stand, the people helping her were crushed by a dense crowd, and several people stumbled out of their bodies.
The official death toll at the time was 66, but Russian officials have been accused of a cover-up, with reports saying the total death toll was 340.
2. Stampede at Accra Stadium (Ghana, 2001)
Fans of Asante Cotoco began breaking and throwing chairs and tables on the pitch, in reaction to seeing their team lose 2–1 to Hearts of Oak just after halftime. Police responded with tear gas, prompting fans to attempt to exit the 50,000-capacity stadium.
It was one of the worst sports stadium disasters in the world, with 126 people killed in a stampede. Many of the dead were either crushed to death or suffocated.
3. Hillsborough Disaster (England, 1989)
In an FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium in 1989, 96 fans of the Merseyside team were crushed as one of their stands fell.
At that time the Commissioner of Police opened Gate C of the Central Standing Pen of a stand to prevent overcrowding, but an enormous number of people broke into the stadium and killed more people than any other tragedy in British games.
4. Dashrath Stadium Crush (Nepal 1988)
A total of 93 people lost their lives in a crush caused by the storm during a football match between Janakpur Cigarette Factory and Bangladesh’s Liberation Army.
A hailstorm – typical of Nepal’s climate in March – broke during the match and caused widespread panic, with fans flocking to the stadium to cover the sole. This faced resistance by the police, prompting fans to exit through the tunnel’s entrance, where the overcrowding caused a massive crush.
5. Oversold tickets cause stampede in WC qualifiers (Guatemala, 1996)
During a 1996 World Cup qualifying match between Costa Rica and Guatemala in Guatemala City, at least 83 people were killed in a stampede at a crowded stadium.
After the venue, the Matteo Flores National Stadium in the nation’s capital, oversold tickets, fans who did not enter the stadium stormed the entrance, causing a massive stampede in the congested entrance tunnel. The fans were either crushed or put to death.