What began as a jubilant celebration of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) clinching their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title after 18 years ended in tragedy, with at least 11 people feared dead in stampedes outside a cricket stadium in Bengaluru and at another location on Wednesday.
The chaos unfolded outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, where thousands gathered for a felicitation event hosted by the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA).
Overcrowding quickly spiralled out of control, triggering a stampede that left several injured and unconscious.
In a separate incident at Vidhana Soudha — the state assembly complex — two more fatalities occurred as the RCB team arrived to meet Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Visuals from the scenes showed police rushing injured fans to nearby hospitals, with ambulances making repeated trips to Bowring Hospital. At several Bengaluru Metro stations, massive crowds swarmed exits, further amplifying the chaos.
Situation Turned ‘Uncontrollable’
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar admitted the situation became “uncontrollable,” despite the deployment of over 5,000 police personnel.
“I apologise for the overcrowding. We couldn’t use force on such a young, vibrant crowd,” he said, adding that the event had to be cut short within 10 minutes.
Eyewitnesses described fans fainting amid the crush, while others climbed trees and perched on rooftops to get a glimpse of the team. The government had earlier cancelled a planned victory parade from Vidhana Soudha to the stadium due to security concerns.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi blamed the Karnataka government for poor planning and a lack of coordination with emergency services. “The loss of lives is heartbreaking. This could have been avoided with better planning. Accountability must be fixed,” he wrote on X.
Police officials said crowd management efforts had begun the night before, but the overwhelming turnout proved too much to contain.
RCB created history on Tuesday by winning their first-ever Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy, defeating Punjab Kings by six runs in the final match in Ahmedabad.
After years of near misses and heartbreaks, the team finally triumphed, sparking massive celebrations among fans across the country.
(With inputs from IBNS)
