All 11 victims of the Bengaluru stampede were aged below 40, with the youngest being 13 and at least six in the age group of 20 to 30.
Police have identified the deceased as Divyanshi (13), Shivaling (17), Chinmayi (19), Prajwal (20), Bhoomik (20), Shravan (20), Sahana (25), Akshata (27), Devi (29), Poornachand (32), Manoj Kumar (33).
The stampede due to overcrowding outside Chinnaswamy Stadium took place during the celebrations for the IPL-winning team, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), which brought home the trophy after an 18-year wait. Lakhs of cricket fans thronged the stadium on Wednesday (June 4) with chaotic scenes at the venue, so much so that the police were unable to enforce crowd control measures and even resorted to mild lathicharge.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said most of the deceased were youths, including men and women, with several of them being students. His deputy, DK Shivakumar, apologised for the tragic incident. He said people had come with friends and family to cheer on their team, and many had travelled from other districts and neighbouring states to get a glimpse of their favourite cricketers.
According to reports, the youngest victim, 13-year-old Divyanshi, travelled all the way from Andhra Pradesh to see her favourite cricketer, Virat Kohli. She was visiting with her mother, aunt, and sister.
The child died of suffocation and a head injury near one of the gates. Her aunt said there was no police support at the venue. “There was no one to help provide CPR or anything. There was so much police protection when the chief minister came, but nothing at the stadium," she was quoted as saying by The CSR Journal.
A report published by Money Control said Chinmayi (19) was a trained Yakshagana and Bharatanatyam dancer. Though she had little interest in cricket, she was at the stadium with her friends after visiting Vidhana Soudha.
Prajwal, a 20-year-old victim from Chintamani, told his family that he was visiting Bengaluru for a job interview but went to the stadium, and never returned. Shravan, another 20-year-old victim, was also from Chintamani, while Devi was from Andhra Pradesh, Shivaling from Kannur, Akshata from Mangaluru, and Poornachand, who was a civil engineer from Mandya district, as per official sources.
Hospital authorities on Thursday said most of those injured in the stampede were discharged from hospitals and a few still being treated are out of danger.
At Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in Bengaluru, of the 10 patients admitted, only two are still being treated, said medical superintendent T Kemparaju. A total of 18 patients were treated at the hospital, the official said.
Kemparaju told PTI that the patients at his hospital were mostly treated for minor scrapes, breathing difficulty and anxiety. “We are still treating a patient who had fractured his leg after he fell, and another 14-year-old boy for a minor injury. Because the injury is near his right eye, he is kept under observation," Kemparaju said.
Confusion over the victory parade, free passes, overcrowding and limited seats at the Chinnaswamy Stadium are said to be some of the major reasons that led to the stampede.
Police sources said the initial chaos that later turned into a stampede began as several cricket enthusiasts, who did not have entry tickets to the stadium, tried to swarm the premises along with those who had valid tickets. During the chaos, some people fell on the ground, some got injured while trying to scale the gates to gain entry into the stadium, they said.
Siddaramaiah said the stadium has a capacity for 35,000 people, but two to three lakh people had come. “The match happened the previous evening, and this event was organised on Wednesday by the cricket association, so no one had expected that so many people would come. The expectation was the equivalent number of people for the stadium’s capacity or slightly more than that may gather," he said.
Explaining what exactly led to the chaos and stampede, he said: “There are small gates. The people entered through the gates. They have also broken the gates, so a stampede has taken place. Nobody had expected so much of a crowd to come. Prima facie looks like that. I’m not saying anything has happened. The inquiry will bring out facts."
On Wednesday morning, at 11.56 am, the Bengaluru Traffic Police announced that no victory parade would be held, but only a felicitation function at the stadium. The RCB team management, however, announced at 3.14 pm that they will hold a victory parade at 5 pm. This left the fans confused about whether a parade would take place or not.
“Victory Parade will be followed by celebrations at the Chinnaswamy stadium. We request all fans to follow the guidelines set by the police and other authorities so that everyone can enjoy the roadshow peacefully. Free passes (limited entry) available on shop.royalchallengers.com," it said in a post on ‘X’.
