Bengaluru: 11 Dead, Over 30 Injured In Stampede At RCB Celebration

At least 11 persons were killed in a stampede that broke out in Bengaluru on Wednesday, during the celebration of Royal Challengers Bengaluru's victory in the Indian Premier League

The tragedy was reported at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in the city, where thousands of fans had gathered to celebrate RCB's first IPL title win.

"Eleven people died and 33 injured in the stampede... The pain of this tragedy has erased the joy of victory," Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said in a press briefing.

"I don't want to defend this incident. Our government will not do politics on this. I have ordered a magisterial inquiry and given 15 days' time," he added.

"There was a stampede. No one expected such a huge crowd. The stadium has a capacity of only 35,000 people, but 2-3 lakh people came," Siddaramaiah further said.

Before the stampede was reported, visuals that emerged on television and social media showed police trying to manage the scores of RCB supporters who turned up at the stadium to witness the felicitation of the team by the Karnataka Cricket Association.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the loss of lives due to the stampede. "The mishap in Bengaluru is absolutely heartrending. In this tragic hour, my thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that those who are injured have a speedy recovery," he said.

State's Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, while speaking to reporters outside the Vidhana Soudha, noted that the crowd was uncontrollable. "I apologise for the overcrowding," NDTV quoted him as saying. "We arranged more than 5,000 personnel. This is a young vibrant crowd, we can't use lathi on them."

Several unconscious and injured persons were rushed to the nearby Bowring Hospital, reports said, adding that several ambulances had rushed from the hospital to the Chinnaswamy stadium.

Notably, RCB's victory in the IPL final was the first-ever in 18 years -- since the start of the tournament in 2008. The team, that features former Indian skipper Virat Kohli, has a strong following among the cricket fans in Karnataka.

Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pralhad Joshi condoled the loss of lives due to the stampede, while also hitting out at the Congress-led Karnataka government for failing to manage the crowd.

"The state government in Karnataka has clearly failed in its responsibility. Celebrations is one thing, but the state government without proper planning, without taking emergency services into confidence, took this urgent and unfortunate decision. This could have been avoided. The government is responsible for this and accountability needs to be fixed," he posted on social media platform X.

IPL Chairman Arun Dhumal also raised questions about the event to felicitate RCB on its victory. "No idea who organised the event," he said while speaking to NDTV, adding that RCB officials assured him to wind-up immediately.

BCCI Vice-President and Congress MP Rajeev Shukla, however, said the tragedy should not be politicised.

"This can happen in any state... It should not be politicised. If this happens in a BJP-ruled state, we should not blame them. The crowd was huge, I spoke to the franchise, they also did not think that such a huge crowd would come and this incident happened suddenly. Efforts are being made to provide maximum help to the families of the deceased," he told reporters.