11, TOO MANY
Strap (Page 1): Eleven lives lost in stampede during RCB victory parade, exposing failures in crowd control measures
Strap (Page 8&9): A day meant for joy ended in panic & death, plunging Bangalore into shock & sorrow in a matter of hours
Byline: Shivani Venugopal
Eighteen years is a long wait — and no team knows that better than Bangalore. Since the inaugural season, RCB has relentlessly chased the IPL trophy, and on Tuesday, when it finally became theirs, the city erupted in joy.
On Wednesday, the city was filled with the scent of celebration. Though it was a weekday and people went about their daily routines, few missed out on updates about the “victory celebrations” scheduled for later in the afternoon.
The celebrations were held at RCB’s fortress — the Chinnaswamy Stadium — and the premises were abuzz from early on. By 2 pm, a massive crowd had gathered at the gates – smitten by the team’s performance the night before and eager for a glimpse of their stars. But at 4 pm, tragedy struck. A stampede broke out near the rear gate of the stadium, killing 11 people and injuring 100 hundreds, casting a pall of gloom over the city.
Eyewitness’ account
Mukesh (name changed), a tailor and ardent fan of RCB, arrived at Chinnaswamy Stadium with his friends around 1:00 pm on that fateful day. He was among the first group to enter the stadium through Gate 18 at around 3:00 pm.
“Though it was crowded, it was manageable at that time,” Mukesh said. It was during a video call with a friend that he learned about the swelling crowd near Vidhana Soudha. “There had already been issues earlier—ticket scanning glitches and server problems,” he recalled.
Unaware of the worsening situation outside the stadium, Mukesh grew disappointed with the limited visibility during the ceremony and decided to leave. It was then that he witnessed the chaos unfolding.
“The fault lies with the public. The stadium’s capacity is 32,000, but if three lakh people show up, what can the police do?” he said angrily, referring to the large number of ticketless people trying to force their way inside by overpowering the police.
While Mukesh and his friends were fortunate to enter the stadium safely, 20-year-old Shravan K T was not so lucky. Shravan, a second-year BDS student at Dr. Ambedkar Medical and Dental College and a cricket enthusiast, was outside Chinnaswamy Stadium with a few friends, waiting to get inside and witness the felicitation event.
Hailing from a humble agrarian family in Kurutihalli, Chintamani Taluk, Shravan’s parents had high hopes of seeing him become a doctor. At around 6:30 p.m., his elder brother Sridhar KT received the devastating news from Bowring & Lady Curzon Hospitals about Shravan’s untimely death during the stampede.
Though shattered, Sridhar remained composed. The family was unaware of Shravan’s plans to visit the stadium. While mourning his loss, Sridhar also expressed frustration over his brother’s decision to be in the midst of the swelling crowd. “What was the need for him to be there?” he asked mournfully.
Speculations galore
It is widely believed that senior police officers had advised the government to hold the victory celebrations the following Sunday instead of at such short notice, but their advice went unheeded. Additionally, RCB’s tweet announcing an open-top bus parade from Vidhana Soudha to the stadium is cited as a key factor behind the massive crowd convergence. The tweet read – “Victory Parade will be followed by celebrations at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. We request all fans to follow guidelines set by police and other authorities so that everyone can enjoy the roadshow peacefully. Free passes (limited entry) available on http://shop.royalchallengers.com.”
It is understood that RCB wanted to hold the parade on the day itself as the international players were scheduled to leave the same day. When asked why police warnings were disregarded, RCB’s management declined to comment but issued a statement expressing deep regret over the tragic incident.
“The unfortunate incident in Bangalore has caused immense anguish and pain to the RCB family. As a mark of respect and solidarity, RCB has announced financial support of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the eleven deceased. Additionally, a fund called ‘RCB Cares’ is being created to support fans injured in this tragic event. Our fans will always remain at the heart of everything we do. We remain united in grief,” the statement read.
Legal action ensues
As the tragedy claimed precious lives and political blame games continued, the Karnataka High Court took suo motu cognisance of the stampede. A bench comprising Acting Chief Justice V. Kameswar Rao and Justice C. M. Joshi ordered the Karnataka government to respond with a detailed status report on the causes of the tragedy and the measures taken to prevent such incidents in the future.
Advocate General Shashikiran Shetty, representing the government, said, “The government is committed to complying with the High Court’s suggestions. We will not oppose the public interest petition regarding the RCB IPL match victory on June 3.”