What was meant to be a historic and joyous occasion for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) fans turned tragic on Wednesday, as a stampede near the M Chinnaswamy Stadium claimed 11 lives and left 33 others injured or unwell during the team’s IPL 2025 victory celebration. In a media briefing, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah confirmed the number of casualties.

Reacting to the incident, an RCB spokesperson acknowledged the emotional intensity of the moment and the long wait fans had endured. “Fans have waited 18 years for this Cup. We need to empathise with them for their vulnerability,” the spokesperson said.

The deadly crowd surge occurred as thousands of supporters tried to force their way into the stadium from multiple gates to witness the celebrations. Despite the presence of heavy police deployment, the situation quickly spiralled out of control.

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Authorities confirmed that two of the deceased were taken to Bowring Hospital, while four others were shifted to Vaidehi Hospital. The deceased are Divyanshi (14), Akshata (26), Bhumik (19), Fahana (23), Chinmayi Shetty (19), Manoj Kumar (20), Shravan (20), Shivu (17), Poonachandra (20), Kamakshi Devi (29), Prajwal (22).

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Fans gather during Royal Challengers Bengaluru's felicitation ceremony after winning the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, in front of Vidhana Soudha. Photo: PTI/Shailendra Bhojak

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar visited Bowring Hospital to meet the injured and assess the situation.

Speaking to the media later, Shivakumar said, “Crowd was uncontrollable, police was finding it difficult, so we had to stop procession.” On the police’s restraint during the chaos, he noted, “It was a young vibrant crowd, we cannot use lathi,” underlining the dilemma authorities faced in managing an emotionally charged public.

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Police officers, who had been deployed since Tuesday night, said that the ambulances struggled to reach hospitals due to road congestion. “The ambulances were unable to move quickly to the hospital due to the overcrowding on the roads,” they said.

In a separate incident, a fan trying to scale a gate to jump into the stadium fell and fractured his leg. Several others were seen climbing trees and sitting on branches for a better view of the celebrations. Officials said further details on the incident are awaited.

The Karnataka government had earlier cancelled the official victory parade from Vidhana Soudha to Chinnaswamy Stadium due to security concerns. However, crowds had already swarmed the Vidhana Soudha premises, where the state held a felicitation event for the team. Police were forced to resort to a mild lathi-charge to manage the swelling crowd. A BCCI official also weighed in on the tragedy, saying, “This is the negative side of popularity. People are crazy for their cricketers.”

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A crowd of fans gather at the Vidhana Soudha for the grand felicitation of IPL 2025 winning Royal Challengers Bengaluru team. Photo: PTI/Shailendra Bhojak
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Earlier in the day, Deputy CM Shivakumar had personally welcomed the victorious RCB team at HAL airport. He presented each player with a bouquet and handed Virat Kohli both the RCB team flag and the Kannada flag. Kohli accepted them warmly and posed for photographs with the minister.

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