Eleven die in Bengaluru stampede during IPL title celebrations
Fans had come out to celebrate Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s first ever Indian Premier League title win
Eleven people have died and many more were injured in a crush during a victory parade of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s first ever Indian Premier League title win.
The incident happened as thousands of cricket fans gathered outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru to celebrate the their side’s IPL triumph.
Local TV news channels showed visuals of police shifting the injured persons and those who fell unconscious to ambulances.
DK Shivakumar, the deputy chief minister of Karnataka state, told reporters that “the crowd was very uncontrollable."
When the tragedy unfolded, the gates of the stadium "were not even opened, but there were so many people trying to push through a small gate that the stampede took place," an official said.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru sealed a historic IPL championship on Tuesday and had been flown into the old HAL airport to be received by Shivakumar. They were then due to drive in a procession to the stadium before the crush occurred.
With many feared dead, the casualty toll was revealed by Karnataka state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who told reporters that authorities did not expect the sheer number of people who had turned out.
Stampedes are relatively common in India when large crowds gather at a place. In January, at least 30 people were killed as tens of thousands of Hindus rushed to bathe in a sacred river during the Maha Kumbh festival, the world’s largest religious gathering.
AP