When supporters of the losing home team invaded the pitch in East Java province on Saturday night to express their frustration, officers fired tear gas in an attempt to control the situation, triggering a stampede and cases of suffocation, East Java police chief Nico Afinta told reporters.
"It had gotten anarchic. They started attacking officers, they damaged cars," Nico said, adding that the crush occurred when fans fled for an exit gate.
Video footage from local news channels showed fans streaming onto the pitch in the stadium in Malang after Arema FC lost 3-2 to Persebaya Surabaya. Scuffles can be seen, with what appeared to be tear gas in the air.
Images showed people who appeared to have lost consciousness being carried away by other fans.
The head of one of the hospitals in the area treating patients told Metro TV that some of the victims had sustained brain injuries and that the dead included a five-year-old child.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said authorities must thoroughly evaluate security at matches, adding that he hoped this would be "the last soccer tragedy in the nation."
Jokowi, as the president is known, ordered the Football Association of Indonesia to suspend all games in the Indonesian top league BRI Liga 1 until an investigation had been completed.
Some local officials had put the death toll at 174, but East Java Deputy Governor Emil Dardak said the number of fatalities had subsequently been revised down to 125.
The earlier figure may have included duplicate fatalities, he said.
An East Java police spokesperson said 323 people were injured, up from the initial count of 180.
The stadium disaster appeared to be the world's worst in decades.
WHAT WE KNOW
At 8 pm local time on Saturday, a match between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya kicked off at the Kanjuruhan Stadium, Malang in East Java, Indonesia.
Shortly before 10 pm, the match ended with the home team Arema losing 3-2 to Persebaya Surabaya.
After the referee blew the final whistle, angry supporters from the home side invaded the pitch. Video footage shot by a Reuters witness shows fans clashing with police on the pitch.
Police fired tear gas in a bid to control the situation, prompting panicked fans to scramble to leave through an exit gate, triggering a stampede and cases of suffocation, East Java police chief Nico Afinta told reporters.
The police chief said a crush occurred at gate 10 in the stadium. Screams could be heard near the exit gate as fans attempted to flee with women and children among those caught in the crush, according to an account on Twitter posted by a fan.
Video footage on local channels showed fans who appeared unconscious being carried out of the stadium.
Outside the stadium, supporters and police were involved in more clashes, with videos and photos circulated on social media showing police cars being burnt.
On Sunday morning, President Joko Widodo, in a video address, ordered the football association to suspend all matches in the country's top league, BRI Liga 1, until an investigation into security at matches is wrapped up.
Financial aid would be given to the injured and the families of victims, East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa told reporters.
TEAR GAS RULES, OVERCAPACITY
World soccer's governing body FIFA specifies in its safety regulations that no firearms or "crowd control gas" should be carried or used by stewards or police.
East Java police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether they were aware of such regulations.
FIFA has requested a report on the incident from Indonesia's PSSI football association, and a PSSI team has been sent to Malang to investigate, PSSI secretary general Yunus Nusi told reporters.
Indonesia's human rights commission also plans to investigate security at the ground, including the use of tear gas, its commissioner told Reuters.
Amnesty International Indonesia slammed the security measures, saying the "use of excessive force by the state ... to contain or control such crowds cannot be justified at all".
The country's chief security minister, Mahfud MD, in an Instagram post says the stadium was filled beyond its capacity. He says 42,000 tickets had been issued for a stadium that is only supposed to hold 38,000 people.
"Many of our friends lost their lives because of the officers who dehumanised us," said Muhammad Rian Dwicahyono (22) crying as he nursed a broken arm at the local Kanjuruhan hospital. "Many lives have been wasted."
On Sunday mourners gathered outside the gates of the stadium to lay flowers for the victims.
WORST IN RECENT DECADES
There have been outbreaks of trouble at matches in Indonesia before, with strong rivalries between clubs sometimes leading to violence among supporters.
The sport is the country's most popular, with huge crowds turning out for bitter clashes between local rivals in the 18-team top-flight league, but the game has been blighted by hooliganism, heavy-handed policing and mismanagement.
Home to nearly 275 million people, Indonesia has rarely been able to harness its potential and has failed to qualify for the World Cup since its one and only appearance in 1938 when the country was still known as the Dutch East Indies.
Beset by issues both on and off the field - at one point two rival leagues each claimed to be the country's top division - the country was banned from all international football by governing body FIFA in 2015 for government interference.
It was allowed back a year later after a series of reforms and is due to host the FIFA Under 20 World Cup next May after the competition was delayed by two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Indonesia, which last organised a major event in 2007 when it co-hosted the Asian Cup, the continental championship for national teams, is also bidding to organise the 2023 edition after China withdrew from hosting earlier this year.
A decision on that bid, where Indonesia is competing with Qatar and South Korea, is expected to be announced by the Asian Football Confederation's executive committee on October 17th.
Violence around the game has remained a constant, however, with rivalries in Indonesia's top flight regularly turning deadly.
Between 1994 and 2019, 74 fans died in football-related violence, according to a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corp, with Persib Bandung supporters banned from matches in 2018 after the lynching of a Persija Jakarta fan.
Zainudin Amali, Indonesia's sports minister, told KompasTV the ministry would re-evaluate safety at football matches, including considering not allowing spectators in stadiums.
Saturday's stadium disaster appeared to be the deadliest since 328 people were reported dead in a riot and crush when Peru hosted Argentina at the Estadio Nacional in 1964.
In an infamous 1989 British disaster, 96 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death when an overcrowded and fenced-in enclosure collapsed at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield.
The head of the Asian Football Confederation, Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said in a statement he was "deeply shocked and saddened to hear such tragic news coming out of football-loving Indonesia", expressing condolences for the victims, their families and friends.
