It was a year when death came abruptly to what otherwise were days of communal celebrations; when Britain lost a queen and Japan, its former premier; when inept leaders – corrupted by hubris – fell; and when nature again refused to be ignored. It was a year of another devastating war in Europe.It was, of course, still a year of Covid-19. But there lies the year's brightest spot. As 2022 draws to a close, even the last bulwark, China, has realised that it cannot push back the tide to protect its citizens from a plague that the rest of the world has learnt to live with.
On Oct 1, a football match at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang city in Indonesia's East Java province ended in a stunning upset for the home team. Thousands of fans descended onto the pitch after the game, mostly to vent their frustrations over the loss. Policemen, armed with shields and batons, tried to break up the mob.
Fans were soon lobbing missiles of empty bottles and debris at the police and overturning police cars. Fearing a riot that could overwhelm them, the police began firing volleys of tear gas, setting off a deadly stampede for the exit.
By the end of the night, 133 people were dead, either trampled or suffocated from the copious amount of tear gas that blanketed the stadium.
It was supposed to be a joyous evening to celebrate the first Halloween since South Korea lifted most of its Covid-19 restrictions.
On Oct 29, more than 100,000 people descended on Itaewon, a hip, trendy neighbourhood in the capital. Most were in their 20s. They were young, they were finally free and they were set on letting loose from sundown to sunrise.
But as early as 6.30pm, Itaewon was already becoming dangerously overcrowded. For nearly four hours, partygoers were making emergency calls, pleading with police to disperse rowdy crowds amassing in narrow back alleys that house the district's hottest nightclubs and bars.
One 5m-wide, sloping alley was quickly turning into a death trap. By 10pm, people began dying in the alley. It took emergency personnel more than 30 minutes to mount a broad response. An hour passed before rescuers finally managed to pull all the injured and unconscious from the alley and begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Bodies were later lined up on the street and covered with blue blankets. The tally at the end of the night would be 158 lives lost.
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