They came wearing RCB jerseys, faces painted, voices hoarse from cheering. Many of them were teenagers, others, just in their twenties. Some came with families, some had bunked college and some others begged parents for permission—just to catch a glimpse of their heroes. But the evening meant to celebrate Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s historic first IPL title ended in unspeakable tragedy, as a deadly stampede at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium claimed 11 lives—most of them barely out of their teens—and injured at least 56 others.
The victims were 14-year-old Divyanshi and 17-year-old Shivalinga. Chinmayi (19), Sahana (19), Prajwal (20), Bhoomik (20), Shravan (20), Manoj (33), Devi (25), Poornachandra (32) and Akshata (26).
For families who watched their children leave home with joy and anticipation, what returned was unthinkable grief.
The stampede, which is now described as one of the worst crowd disasters in Indian cricket history, occurred as tens of thousands swarmed the stadium for a hastily organised victory parade for the RCB team. The turnout, officials said, far exceeded expectations, with nearly three lakh people flooding the area meant to hold just a fraction of that number.
What followed was chaos—overwhelmed security, barricades collapsing, people crushed in waves of panic as the crowd surged towards the gates.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called it a "shocking and sorrowful" incident and announced Rs 10 lakh in compensation for each victim’s family. But questions are now being raised about the government’s decision to allow such a massive celebration on short notice and whether warnings by police and logistical concerns were ignored.
Opposition leaders criticised the Congress-led Karnataka government for mismanaging the celebrations.
Karnataka BJP state president BY Vijayendra called the stampede a huge tragedy and stated that while several in India and Karnataka state celebrated Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s victory in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the state government should not have allowed a victory parade without any preparation.
"When lakhs of people celebrated the IPL victory last night, the state government should have anticipated the need for preparedness. Police officials warned the government not to proceed, and yet they went ahead with the celebrations. I strongly urge CM Siddaramaiah to proceed with a judicial enquiry," Vijayendra added.