“They died in front of us”

“Were war scenes. we saw the people die in the locker room“. This is how the Brazilian goalkeeper described to Efe the moments of fear at the Kanjuruhan stadium Adilson dos Santos, who plays for the Arema club in Indonesia and has been witness to the tragedy which claimed the lives of at least 125 people on Saturday.

“It’s a real battlefield, it’s war scenes. It’s like a war between Ukraine and Russia and not a football field. There was only chaos and panic.”summed up the player with shock in a telephone interview with Efe, granted from the Indonesian city of Malang, which on Saturday was the scene of one of the worst tragedies in the history of football.

The spiral of violence began when around 3,000 fans of the host team, Arema, burst onto the pitch after a 2-3 loss to their backyard rivals, Persebaya Surabaya, and clashed with security forces, who responded with tear gas canisters and panicked spectators.

“They started bringing some of the most seriously injured into the locker room. We saw people dying I lost hope,” Santos recalled on the island of Java.

Just after the final whistle, with confusion imminent, the players, members of the technical commission and match referees quickly went to the locker room, where they were. detained for about five hours until the situation is under control.

“At first, it was just the noise of the (tear gas) bombs, of those hurt, screaming, crying and people destroying everything. But then they started bringing in the wounded, some of them dead. Many are blue due to lack of oxygen and they died in front of us”commemoration

The tragedy reached its climax when the fans “they killed one of the policemen”that led to a “tough response” from the agents, who launched tear gas bombs against the crowd and sparked an uncontrollable stampede that left at least 125 dead, including 17 minors, and more than three hundred wounded.

“Suddenly, a cloud of that poisonous smoke covered the whole place. And that’s when the chaos began. Many people fell down, lost consciousness, they were stepped onthey inhaled all that smoke,” Santos said.

“We have nothing to run to, we are waiting for the moment when (the fans) will come for us. the happiest time of my lifeadded the soccer player, a native of the southern state of Paraná and who, at the age of 32, has been defending the Indonesian club for almost two years.

When they finally made it out of the locker room safely, albeit under escort, the players were greeted by a “brutal scene of total chaos”.

“We came out and saw the whole destroyed stadium, bloodied people, some in ‘shock’, others drunkenly choking. Many injured, bodies were dumped, cars were set on fire. I just want to get out alive,” Santos explained.

Images of the serious riot that took place at the Kanjuruhan stadium went around the world and generated a global shock waveas well as appeals against violence in sport.

Also, witnesses and survivors denounced the excessive use of force of police, where the Indonesian government announced on Monday an independent investigation to examine the alleged cruelty of security agents.

The authorities also announced a series of measures to re-examine the rules for holding matches of soccer and to step up security in the country’s stadiums, known for fierce rivalries between clubs and where outbreaks of violence are not isolated cases.