Free pass frenzy, poor management: How RCB's victory celebration in Bengaluru turned into deadly stampede

A huge crowd gathered to celebrate Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) first Indian Premier League (IPL) title, but the joyous occasion turned tragic on Wednesday evening when a stampede near M Chinnaswamy Stadium claimed the lives of 11 people and left over 30 injured. Authorities reported that most of the victims were young, including both men and women, with several being students.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah pointed out that while the Bengaluru stadium can hold 35,000 people, an astonishing 200,000 to 300,000 had shown up. Siddaramaiah explained that the stampede was caused by a lack of coordination and the sheer number of attendees.

“The match happened last evening (Tuesday), and today (Wednesday) this event was organised by the cricket association, so no one had expected so many people to come.”

"There are small gates. The people entered through the gates. They have also broken the gates, so a stampede has taken place. Nobody had expected so much of a crowd to come. Prima facie, it looks like that. I am not saying nothing has happened. The inquiry will bring out facts,” he added.

“There were over 1.5 lakh people at the gates, banging and eventually breaking through in some places. The attempt to enter the stadium resulted in the stampede.”

Police reported that about 50,000 people had gathered within a kilometer of the stadium, with many attempting to push through the gates or climb over the barriers.

“The crowd was beyond our control. Even though we had deployed force, it was too much,” a senior police officer told HT on condition of anonymity.

“We had to resort to a lathi charge at some points. The problem was that the stadium gates were narrow, and the pressure of the crowd caused the tragedy,” the official added.

A crowd surge happened that was very unusual and intense

As the afternoon rolled in, thousands of fans started to gather around the stadium. Even though it can hold 35,000 people, police estimated that between 200,000 and 300,000 fans showed up. By 3:30 PM, the sheer pressure from the crowd led authorities to shut all the gates.

Numerous photos and videos from the scene captured fans pushing and shoving each other. Many images depicted RCB supporters attempting to scale walls and climb over gates, all while chanting “RCB, RCB.”

Other clips from the event showed people climbing on cars and trees just to catch a glimpse of the ongoing celebrations. Police were also spotted using mild force to manage the growing crowds.

Confusion over a victory parade

There was quite a bit of confusion surrounding the parade timing and the availability of free passes. The Bengaluru traffic police kicked things off by announcing in the morning that there wouldn’t be a victory parade, just a celebration inside the stadium.

But then, at 3:14 PM, the RCB management took to social media to clarify that a parade would actually take place at 5 PM, followed by the celebrations in the stadium. They also mentioned that there would be a limited number of free passes available online.

This back-and-forth left many fans scratching their heads, with quite a few showing up at the stadium without tickets or hoping to snag those elusive passes.

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