At least 125 dead in Indonesia football stadium stampede

At least 125 people died at an Indonesian football stadium when thousands of angry home fans invaded the pitch and police responded with tear gas that triggered a stampede, authorities said.

The tragedy in the city of Malang, which also left 323 injured according to police, was one of the world's deadliest sporting stadium disasters.

Arema FC supporters at the Kanjuruhan stadium stormed the pitch after their team lost 3-2 to the visiting team and bitter rivals, Persebaya Surabaya.

Police, who described the unrest as "riots", said they tried to force fans to return to the stands and fired tear gas after two officers were killed.

Many of the victims were trampled or choked to death, according to police.

At least 125 people died, East Java deputy governor Emil Dardak said, significantly lowering officials' earlier death toll of 174 because of double counting.

"Some names were recorded twice because they had been referred to another hospital and were written down again," he said, citing data collected by local police from 10 hospitals.

Survivors described panicking spectators in a packed crowd as tear gas rained down on them.

President Joko Widodo ordered an investigation into the tragedy, a safety review into all football matches and directed the country's football association to suspend all matches until "security improvements" were completed.