Indonesia police: Stadium exit gates too small for escapees
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) – Police have detained a man suspected of running out of a stadium where a riot-hit soccer match was being played and then fleeing the country.
Police in southern Thailand say they detained two male suspects Wednesday for questioning in connection with a disturbance in the stadium in the Central World shopping mall where the match was being played.
The man was also detained near the football match and questioned but was released and allowed to leave through a police checkpoint in front of the stadium.
Some fans had been allowed to leave but others remained behind in the melee. They threw food, beer and bottles at the riot police who were trying to restore order.
Police said one male had a broken leg. The others were in a serious condition.
Police said on their Facebook page that the man in custody had admitted to fleeing, adding, “We have confiscated a passport and will do legal action on him.”
Officials said they had sent police boats to a hotel off the beach in the resort town of Pattaya where the disturbance had occurred in order to take the two to court.
Video from the scene showed the man sitting on a beach chair as his hands were tied behind him. He was wearing a red shirt.
Police Chief Sukhumnerd Prueksakphaw said in a speech Thursday that riot police had not only been dealing with the riot, but a criminal case.
Prueksakphaw said a 26-year-old male was arrested Wednesday evening for being part of the disturbance.
The man apparently left from the stadium before the protest began and was seen near the stadium at the time of the protest and again as he left, police said.
Police are trying to figure out whether any of the dozens of fans who were evacuated in the hours before the riot, in which at least 14 people were injured, were among those who left the stadium in the hours immediately before the violence began.
Police said earlier it was not clear whether those fans had left after the violence broke out.
A Thai Airways flight was diverted to Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport after a security guard spotted two Chinese nationals on board. Police and airline officials said