RCB celebrations went on inside Chinnaswamy even as fans died of stampede outside

It appears the IPL-winning celebrations of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) went ahead inside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium even as the stampede that killed 11 fans and left at least 33 injured took place just outside the gates.

Photographs and video clips of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar sharing the dais with Virat Kohli, captain Rajat Patidar and other RCB players inside the stadium have surfaced.

Shivakumar claimed that the celebrations lasted no longer than 10 minutes and were wrapped up as soon as news of the tragedy emerged. "A lot of programmes were there, but we cut off. We didn't want to continue with the programme. Only within 10 minutes, with one round, we closed it," Shivakumar told media persons.

However, from the footage of the programme inside the stadium, which was live-streamed on Hotstar, it is clear the celebrations went on much longer than the duration Shivakumar claimed.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah blamed the Karnataka Cricket Association, which is based at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, for the stampede. "The Cricket Association (KCA) arranged the programme at the Chinnaswamy Stadium," Siddaramaiah said at a press conference.

"The stadium has a capacity of 35,000, but at least 2 to 3 lakh people turned up. We didn't expect the crowd to turn up in such large numbers.. There are small gates at the stadium, and the people who entered broke the gates, so a stampede took place," the CM said.

RCB’s official social media handles also seemed unaware of the tragedy and posted a celebratory video of their bus ride with the IPL trophy soon after arriving in Bengaluru by Wednesday afternoon. That video was pulled at least two hours after the stampede, following a social media backlash.

Meanwhile, an RCB spokesperson said: “Fans have waited 18 years for this Cup. We need to empathise with them for their vulnerability.”