By IANS,
Jakarta : Two Indonesian fans died in a stampede at the Southeast Asian Games football final in Jakarta.
The two men, wearing Indonesian red-and-white football team T-shirts were taken to hospital at 8:30 p.m., 90 minutes after the stampede broke out Monday after defending champions Malaysia scored a win on penalties against hosts Indonesia, reports Xinhua.
Local media reported that several other spectators were taken to hospitals, including a nine-year-old boy who had gone into a coma, as tens of thousands of fans swarmed the Gelora Bung Karno stadium for the final.
Hundreds of fans thronged ticket barriers as police closed the gates shortly before kickoff, with many fans inside forced to crouch in aisles and walkways.
Those in the stands endured a nerve-wracking night and eventual heartbreak as Malaysia won 4-3 on penalties with the game deadlocked at 1-1 after extra time.
Captain Baddrol Bakhtiar converted the winning spot kick to give the visitors the gold, sparking jubilant scenes on the pitch and silencing the crowd who had hoped to see Indonesia claim their first Games football gold in two decades.
Indonesia missed two penalties, allowing Bakhtiar, who was the game’s standout player, to steal the headlines with an ice cool spot kick into the bottom corner.
Indonesia topped the Games medal tally with 171 gold and a total medal haul of 454, putting them well ahead of second-placed Thailand on 105 gold, but the win most wanted by fans was in the under-23 football event.