Indonesian leader says locked gates contributed to deaths

A man weeps as the offers prayer outside Kanjuruhan Stadium where a soccer stampede killed more than 100 people on Saturday, in Malang, East Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022. Police firing tear gas inside the stadium on Saturday in an attempt to stop violence after an Indonesian soccer match triggered a disastrous crush of fans making a panicked, chaotic run for the exits, leaving at a number of people dead, most of them trampled upon or suffocated. (AP Photo/Dicky Bisinglasi)

Indonesia's President Joko Widodo said on Wednesday that locked gates had contributed to the crush at the soccer stadium that left 131 dead and over 400 injured when police fired tear gas and set off a panicked run for the exits.

Widodo made the statement after touring the Kanjuruhan soccer stadium in East Java's Malang city for a first-hand look at the scene of one of the world's deadliest disasters at a sporting event. He also visited the victims recovering at Saiful Anwar General Hospital and pledged a thorough investigation into what had transpired on Saturday night.