A stampede during Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) IPL victory celebrations turned tragic on Wednesday as at least seven people lost their lives and several others were injured outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The incident occurred when thousands of fans gathered for a felicitation event organized by the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) to honour the team’s historic maiden IPL title win. People fainted in the heat and police rushed injured individuals to nearby hospitals, including Bowring Hospital.

The situation spiraled out of control as fans climbed trees, occupied metro stations near the venue, and swarmed the area hours ahead of the event. Despite the Bengaluru Police deploying over 5,000 personnel to manage the crowd, the turnout exceeded expectations. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, acknowledging the mismanagement, apologized for the chaos. “This is a young and energetic crowd. We couldn’t have used force on them,” he stated. Authorities had earlier cancelled a victory parade from Vidhana Soudha to the stadium citing security concerns, but large gatherings still occurred at both venues.

RCB’s much-anticipated victory celebration, scheduled at the stadium, went ahead in a restricted format without a public parade. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM Shivakumar felicitated the team, with special attention given to star player Virat Kohli. The police have been on high alert since Tuesday night, trying to disperse spontaneous fan gatherings across the city. Meanwhile, ambulances continued shuttling the injured from the stadium area, and further inquiries into the crowd control failure are expected. The tragedy has cast a shadow over what was meant to be a historic and joyous moment for Bengaluru and RCB fans.