Indonesia police say 6 facing criminal charges over soccer stampede

Arema FC supporters pray at a monument as they pay their condolences for the victims of a riot and stampede after a soccer match between Arema vs Persebaya, outside Kanjuruhan stadium in Malang, East Java province, Indonesia, October 4, 2022. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Six people including police and match organisers are facing criminal charges in Indonesia over a stampede at a soccer game at the weekend that killed at least 131 people, the country's police chief said on Thursday.

Saturday's stampede in the Malang region of East Java was among the world's worst sporting disasters, as hundreds of soccer fans tried to flee a stadium riot and the firing of tear gas by police, leading to a crush worsened by several locked exits.