Indonesia’s drama is second largest in history, after the one that caused 320 deaths in Lima 58 years ago
The tragedy that occurred in Indonesia, which left at least 174 dead on Saturday night, is the latest in a long series of dramas in football stadiums around the world and the second largest in history after the one in Lima (Peru) more than half a century ago. century and that caused the brutal balance of 320 deaths. While there is no exact figure as some cases remain unsolved, it is estimated that some 1,500 people have died as a result of incidents or events that occurred before, during or after a football match.
To date, the most fatality episode occurred at the National Stadium in Lima on May 24, 1964, during an Olympic Games qualifier between Argentina and Peru. The chronicles of the time describe that a controversial arbitration decision led to very serious clashes in the stands between fans and the police, in which as many as 320 were killed and a thousand injured. The stadium gates were closed, police fired tear gas and the fans were unable to escape and died crushed or suffocated.
There is a case in Europe, particularly in Russia, which may have been worse, but about which there is still a certain obscurantism. The real number of victims of an avalanche at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow in October 1982 after a match between Spartak and Dutch club Haarlem is still unknown: 66 according to the authorities, but 340 according to the sports newspaper Sovietski, which is the worst disaster in 50 years. would be.
Also on the Old Continent, the Heysel drama in Brussels caused 39 people to die in May 1985. Before a European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus, the English invaded the stands where the Italian fans were. The separation fences and a wall collapsed under the pressure of the crowd. Those images went around the world and blackened the history of football.
Also regarding the United Kingdom, just four years later, on 15 April 1989, 96 Liverpool supporters also died in the old stands of Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.
In Glasgow, in January 1971, 66 people were killed in a derby between Rangers and Celtic, historically complicated by the religious connotations between Catholics and Protestants. More recently, in May 1985, 56 people died in a fire in the main stand of the English stadium in Bradford.
The disasters in Europe are closer, but a review of the newspaper library reveals many other terrible stories on other continents, especially in Africa and South America. Chronologically, the most devastating in addition to those already mentioned are the following:
Source: La Verdad
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