Eleven dead in stampede at India cricket celebrations

The Star

2 days ago

BENGALURU: Packed crowds in India celebrating their cricket team's victory ended in a deadly stampede on Wednesday (June 4) with 11 mainly young fans crushed to death, the local state's chief minister said.
Joyous cricket fans had come out to celebrate and welcome home their heroes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after they beat Punjab Kings in a roller-coaster Indian Premier League cricket final on Tuesday night.
But the euphoria of the vast crowds in the southern tech city of Bengaluru ended in disaster, with Prime Minister Narendra calling it "absolutely heartrending".
Karnataka state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said most of the deceased are young, with 11 dead and 47 injured in the crush.
In one Bengaluru hospital, a stream of injured came for treatment.
"I was standing near the entrance, there was a huge crowd and they stamped on me", one lady told AFP, being taken in a wheelchair, who did not give her name. "I was not able to breathe. I fell unconscious."
Police personnel rescuing a boy who had difficulty breathing following the stampede. - Reuters
Siddaramaiah told reporters said that "no one expected such a huge crowd." But he added that the entire police force of the city had been deployed.
"The stadium has a capacity of only 35,000 people, but 200,000-300,000 people came," the minister said.
He said a victory street parade by the winning team was called off as authorities had anticipated an uncontrollable crowd.
"The pain of this tragedy has even erased the joy of victory," said Siddaramaiah, who has ordered an inquiry in the deaths.
"I don't want to defend the incident, the tragedy... our government is not going to play politics on this," he added.
"This tragedy should not have happened. We are with the victims."
The IPL winning team said it was "deeply anguished" by the incident.
"The safety and well-being of everyone is of utmost importance to us," Royal Challengers Bengaluru said late Wednesday.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said hundreds of thousands of people had flocked onto the streets and that police had been "finding it very difficult."
An AFP photographer saw vast crowds as a sea of people crammed the streets and police waved sticks.
Broadcasters showed police rushing away from crowds carrying young children in their arms, who had seemingly fainted.
One unattended young man was sitting in an ambulance struggling to breathe.
India cricket great Sachin Tendulkar called the deaths "beyond tragic", in a post on social media.
"My heart goes out to every affected family," he said. "Wishing peace and strength to all."
Former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who attended the final match with his wife on Tuesday, expressed sorrow over the stampede.
"We celebrated with you yesterday and we mourn with you today," he said in a post on X.
Where the crush took place, abandoned shoes lay scattered around.
Mallikarjun Kharge, a senior Congress party leader, said the deaths were "profoundly distressing", adding that "the joy of victory should never come at the cost of lives".
Organisers pressed ahead with the ceremony, with the team's social media account posting a video of cheering crowds as the bus full of the players -- including batting legend Virat Kohli -- waved back.
"This welcome is what pure love looks like," the club said in a post on X, which it later deleted.
But IPL chairman Arun Dhumal, speaking to NDTV, said organisers in the stadium had not been told about the stampede until later.
"At the time of the celebrations inside the stadium officials there did not know what had happened... I would like to send my heartfelt condolences," Dhumal said.
Shivakumar said cricket organisers had "shortened the programme".
Bengaluru had erupted in midnight celebrations after their team RCB, who scored 190-9, restricted Punjab to 184-7.
India's IPL mega-tournament wrapped up on Tuesday night watched by 91,000 fans packed into the stadium in Ahmedabad -- and many millions more on television.
Bengaluru fans celebrated wildly after their hero Kohli and RCB clinched victory for the first time in the 18 years of the IPL, their three previous finals having all ended in defeat.
Deadly crowd incidents are a frequent occurrence at Indian mass events such as religious festivals due to poor crowd management and safety lapses.
A stampede at India's Kumbh Mela religious fair in January this year killed 30 people and injured several others.
In July last year, 121 people were killed in northern Uttar Pradesh state during a Hindu religious gathering. - AFP