Death toll rises to 131 in stampede at Indonesian football stadium

Jakarta, Oct 5 (IANS) The Indonesian police confirmed on Wednesday that a total of 131 people have died in a stampede last weekend after a football match in the country's province of East Java.Earlier, police said that the number of deaths in the tragedy as of Tuesday was 125, although the supporters of the Arema Malang football club claimed the death toll could be higher, Xinhua news agency reported. National police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo told local media that police have done further verification with its disaster victim identification (DVI) unit, local health agency and hospitals.Some victims were apparently not brought to hospitals, while officers only identified those taken to hospitals, said Prasetyo.The stampede occurred late Saturday at the Kanjuruhan Stadium in the city of Malang after Arema Malang club lost to Persebaya Surabaya in an Indonesian league match.Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrived in Malang on Wednesday for a visit following the strategy, which has become one of the world's worst stadium disasters.The Indonesian government has formed an independent fact-finding team to investigate the incident.
--IANS int/svn/

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