MALANG, Indonesia — He was a die-hard Arema F.C. fan who loved birds and painstakingly cleaned their seven cages every weekend.
She was a great cook who loved aerobics and chatting with her neighbors.
Muhammad Yulianto and Devi Ratna Sari were an ordinary couple trying to make ends meet in the city of Malang. They lived there with their only child, an 11-year-old boy.
A trip to Kanjuruhan Stadium last Saturday, their son’s first stadium soccer match, changed the family forever. That night, several Arema fans, angry at their team’s loss, clashed with the police, prompting security forces to spray tear gas into the stands. Thousands of people rushed for the exits, choking from the smoke and trampling one another.
Yulianto, known as Anton, and Devi, known as Evi, were among 125 people who died that weekend. Their son, Muhammad Alfiansyah — who they called Alfi — survived.
