Eleven people lost their lives, while thirty three were injured outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday after thousands gathered to see Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) players and celebrate the team's victory in the Indian Premier League 2025. The tragic incident reportedly happened due to a sudden crowd surge.
"11 died and 33 injured in the stampede" confirmed Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at a press conference, adding that all injured are out of danger.
Most of the deceased in the RCB celebrations are young people. The government will provide ₹10 lakh compensation to the families of the deceased, said Siddaramaiah.
More than 2–3 lakh people gathered near Chinnaswamy Stadium — no one expected such a massive crowd. There is a small gate at the stadium, and a large number of people gathered there; they broke it, which led to the stampede," added the Karnataka Chief Minister.
Siddaramaiah has also ordered magisterial inquiry into RCB celebrations stampede incident. "I don't want to defend tragedy that has happened. 15 days time is given for magisterial inquiry," he said.
Reacting to the stampede incident, Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra criticised the Congress-led state government for poor planning and inadequate security arrangements.
"First of all, the state government, without any preparedness, should not have organised this today. If you would had seen the world cup match when India won, there was a big celebration in Mumbai also with lot of preparations. When lakhs and lakhs of people celebrated last night in Bengaluru, the state government should have thought before organising a function today itself," he told reporters after the incident.
Massive turnout of fans at Chinnaswamy stadium
The event, organised as a fan meet-up, saw an overwhelming number of people turning up to greet their favourite RCB stars. The excitement among fans turned chaotic when the crowd became unmanageable.
"We appeal to the people to remain calm. We shortened the program. The program ended within 10 minutes. We are trying to make everything normal...Lakhs of people came," said Deputy CM DK Shivakumar after the event.
Meanwhile, BCCI also reacted to the unfortunate incident. "It is very unfortunate. This is a negative side of popularity. People are crazy for their cricketers. The organisers should have planned it better. My deepest condolences to the family of the deceased," BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed deep sorrow over the tragic incident and prayed for speedy recovery for the injured people.
"The mishap in Bengaluru is absolutely heartrending. In this tragic hour, my thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that those who are injured have a speedy recovery," PMO posted on X.
#WATCH | Karnataka police use mild force to manage the crowd outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru A large number of #RoyalChallengersBengaluru fans have arrived here to catch a glimpse of their champion team A special felicitation ceremony has been organised by the… pic.twitter.com/lQvGEE2LNj
#WATCH | A car was damaged after fans climbed over it outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru A large number of #RoyalChallengersBengaluru fans have turned up here to catch a glimpse of their champion team. A special felicitation ceremony for all RCB players has been… pic.twitter.com/WuNrbo5Bzh