At least 11 people died and more than 30 were injured in a stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, as thousands gathered for Royal Challengers Bengaluru's IPL victory parade on Wednesday. One fan, who narrowly escaped the chaos, shared his harrowing ordeal and urged others to stay away from what he described as a “dangerous” and “terrible” scene.
Speaking to Cricket.com, the fan—who sustained a leg injury after nearly 20 people fell on him—said he was fortunate to escape, thanks to the help of another spectator. He added that four others near him were left unconscious.
“I fell down there. More than 20 people have fallen, and four of them are unconscious. It's terrible. Look at that guy jumping over the fence. I don't know how I came out of that because I was underneath 20 people there. My leg is paining and I can't walk properly right now. It's very dangerous to come here. Please don't come,” he said.
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Despite the chaos, the felicitation of the RCB players went ahead nonetheless as the stadium was packed to the rafters, however the much-anticipated open-top bus parade, which was allowed to proceed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah from Vidhana Soudha to the stadium, ultimately could not take place as crowd became unmanageable for the police.
{{/usCountry}}Despite the chaos, the felicitation of the RCB players went ahead nonetheless as the stadium was packed to the rafters, however the much-anticipated open-top bus parade, which was allowed to proceed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah from Vidhana Soudha to the stadium, ultimately could not take place as crowd became unmanageable for the police.
{{/usCountry}}Virat Kohli, the only player in IPL history to have represented a single franchise for 18 years, addressed the crowd before winning captain Rajat Patidar took over. The players then went around the ground with the trophy in hand.
"It's for all of you - the fans, the people of this wonderful city, people who've supported RCB through thick and thin. I've never seen any fan base of any team in the world like this franchise," Kohli said after being interrupted twice by the crowd.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced that 11 had died and 33 were injured "due to stampede near Chinnaswamy Stadium."
"More than 2-3 lakh people came near Chinnaswamy Stadium, no one expected this crowd," Siddaramaiah said.
"Most of deceased in RCB celebrations are youth. Government will provide ₹10 lakh compensation to kin of deceased," he added, while declaring that there will be a magisterial inquiry into the incident.
The injured are being treated at the nearby Vydehi hospital and Bowering hospital.