Packed crowds in India celebrating their cricket team’s victory ended in a deadly stampede on Wednesday, 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 (IPL) cricket final on Tuesday night.
However, the euphoria of the vast crowds in the southern tech city of Bengaluru ended in disaster, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra calling it “absolutely heartrending.”
Photo: AFP
Karnataka 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 said, being taken in a wheelchair, who did not give her name. “I was not able to breathe. I fell unconscious.”
Photo: AFP
Siddaramaiah told reporters that “no one expected such a huge crowd,” adding that the entire police force of the city had been deployed.
“The stadium has a capacity of only 35,000 people, but 200,000 to 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 on 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.”
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.
Indian cricket great Sachin Tendulkar called the deaths “beyond tragic,” in a post on social media.
“My heart goes out to every affected family,” he wrote. “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 wrote on X.
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