Indonesian Police Admit Using Expired Tear Gas in Kanjuruhan Stadium Disaster
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10 October 2022 21:43 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian police admitted to using expired tear gas at Kanjuruhan Stadium during the deadly incident on Saturday, October 1. However, they claimed that the expired tear gas was not lethal.
Insp. Gene. Dedi Prasetyo, the Indonesian Police's PR chief, said that the compounds in tear gas are different from food. When tear gas reaches its expiration date, its chemical levels actually decrease.
"So, when it expires, the level of chemical substances will decrease, and the ability will also decrease," Dedi said in a press conference at the Police HQ, Monday, October 10, 2022.
Police Claim Tear Gas Did Not Cause Death
Dedi also stated that based on investigators' investigations, the victim in the Kanjuruhan Tragedy did not die because of tear gas, but due to lack of oxygen. He also added that, according to a number of experts, tear gas did not cause death.
"Citing the opinion of Made Gegel, a professor from Udayana University—an expert in the field of toxicology—and Professor Massayu Elita, [the use of] tear gas [even] on a high scale is not lethal," Dedi said.
According to Dedi, explanations from experts and specialist doctors who treated the victims revealed that no victims died from tear gas. The spectators died from a lack of oxygen due to overcrowding.
"No one said that the cause of death was tear gas. The cause of death was lack of oxygen. Why? Because of jostling, trampling, piling up, causing a lack of oxygen at door 13, door 11, door 14, and door 3. This has resulted in quite a number of victims," he said.
Amnesty International study says tear gas can cause death
The statements of the experts he cited differ from the results of a study conducted by Amnesty International, which suggested the possibility that tear gas can cause death if used inappropriately.
Researcher Rohini Haar from the University of California, Berkeley said in the Amnesty study that tear gas inhaled into a person's mouth and nose could result in death, as the content in the gas can damage the membranes in the lungs.
In many cases, the study claimed, humans start to feel the effects of tear gas after 10 to 20 minutes of inhaling it. However, tear gas has different impacts on different people. Children, pregnant women and the elderly are more susceptible to its effects.
The study also revealed that the level of poisoning can vary depending on the product specifications, the quantity used, and the environment in which the tear gas was fired. Long-term contact can pose several health risks, even death.
The Kanjuruhan Stadium incident took place on Saturday night, October 1, following a game between home team Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya. Supporters from the losing team then came down to the pitch, prompting the police to fire tear gas at them. Not only that, tear gas was fired towards the stands, which were still filled with spectators, causing panic and stampede in the stadium.
The spectators then scrambled towards the exit to escape the tear gas. Unfortunately, some of the exit doors were locked, causing people to jostle, and people suffocated. The Kanjuruhan tragedy resulted in the death of 131 people and injured hundreds.
Last week, National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo announced that the police had named six suspects in the fatal stampede. They are Akhmad Hadian Lukita president director of soccer league operator PT Liga Indonesia Baru (LIB); the match head organizer of Arema FC soccer club Abdul Haris; security officer, Suko Sutrisno; Malang Police head of operations Comr. Wahyu Setyo Pranoto; East Java Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) Kompi III commander Adj. Comr. Hasdarman; and head of the Malang Police rapid response unit (Samapta) Adj. Comr. Bambang Sidik Achmadi.
HAMDAN CHOLIFUDIN ISMAIL
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