[Itaewon Tragedy] Another Stadium Accident in Indonesia One Month Later... Global Cases of Crowd Crush

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] On the night of the 29th, ahead of Halloween Day, a tragedy occurred in Itaewon, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, where a large crowd gathered, resulting in 151 deaths. Similar incidents around the world have also been reexamined.

The most recent case happened on the 1st at the Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang Regency, East Java Province, Indonesia, during a soccer match.

When the home team lost, excited spectators rushed onto the field. Police fired tear gas to stop them, turning the stadium into chaos. As many people rushed toward the exits and got entangled, 132 people died.

Among those crushed in the crowd at the time of the accident, dozens remain in critical condition, and the death toll is expected to rise.

Looking at past cases, such incidents occurred at various religious events with large crowds. According to official statistics, the deadliest incident was in July 1990 in Saudi Arabia, where 1,426 people were crushed during the 'Eid al-Adha' period following the Hajj pilgrimage near Mecca. The incident happened as many people crowded into a pedestrian tunnel heading to Mecca.

In Saudi Arabia, in May 1994, 270 pilgrims died on the Jamaraat Bridge, and again in April 1998, nearly 200 people died during the Hajj period. In February 2004, 251 died near the Jamaraat Bridge, and in January 2006, 362 died on the Jamaraat Bridge, all during Islamic religious events involving mass casualties.

In India, in January 2005, at a remote temple in Maharashtra state, at least 265 Hindu pilgrims died in an incident.

In 2008, at the Naina Devi Temple in Himachal Pradesh, India, pilgrims panicked upon hearing rumors of a landslide, resulting in at least 145 deaths. In the same year, in September, 147 Hindu pilgrims died near the Chamunda Temple close to Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and in 2013, 115 devotees died at a Hindu temple in Madhya Pradesh, India.

In August 2005, on a bridge over the Tigris River in Baghdad, Iraq, rumors of a suicide bombing spread among a crowd, causing panic and resulting in over 1,005 people being crushed to death.

Similar casualties have also occurred at sports events.

In October 1982, during a UEFA Cup match between Spartak Moscow and the Netherlands' Haarlem in Moscow, then the capital of the Soviet Union (the predecessor of Russia), a crowd crush occurred. The Soviet authorities announced about 60 deaths, but foreign media estimated over 340 deaths.

In March 1988, at a soccer stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal, a sudden hailstorm caused fans to rush simultaneously toward the exits, resulting in 93 deaths.

In April 1989, in the UK, 96 people died when a crowd surged at a Football Association (FA) Cup professional soccer match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

In October 1996, in Guatemala, 84 people died in chaos among spectators before a World Cup qualifying match against Costa Rica.

In May 2001, at a soccer stadium in Accra, the capital of Ghana, police fired tear gas to suppress rioting spectators, quickly turning the venue into chaos and causing over 126 people to be crushed to death.

Meanwhile, according to fire authorities, on the night of the 29th, tens of thousands of people gathered in Itaewon, Yongsan-gu, ahead of Halloween, causing a large-scale crowd crush disaster. As of 9 p.m., there were 233 casualties in total, including 151 deaths and 82 injuries.