The Royal Challengers Bengaluru won their maiden IPL title at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The champion team was supposed to celebrate their victory among the Bangalore crowd that had stayed loyal to them for the past 18 years. This victory celebration turned into a tragic accident when a stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium led to 11 deaths and several injuries. A senior police officer at the Bangalore police has some clarifications on how the stampede occurred and how the police and the government could not handle such a massive crowd. According to The Deccan Herald, RCB, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), and the state government ignored police advice to postpone the celebrations.
Also Read: RCB Extends Support To Families Of The Demise, Will Offer Financial Aid Of Rs.10 Lakhs Each
“We tried to discourage them, but there was a mad frenzy. The celebrations had continued into the early hours, and our personnel were exhausted. Though we managed to cancel the victory procession, our request to either confine the celebrations to a single venue or postpone it to Sunday, when emotions would have settled, was ignored”. A senior Bengaluru police officer said.
Insufficient Security and Barricading
The number of people caused a shortage of barricades and security staff. Managers of the event were not ready to handle such a big crowd.
Problems at Entrance Gates
A big problem that caused the stampede was the way the gates were handled. People were allowed to enter one gate at a time, and no pre-arranged schedule was shared. This led to huge groups converging at all the open gates, which was very difficult and unsafe. People got confused since no instructions or obvious signs were guiding them.
Schedule and Venue Mismanagement
Various people were looking forward to enjoying a festive game similar to what happens at usual cricket matches. Yet, many didn’t know how to attend since everything about the event was unclear. Various reports claimed that the celebration would happen only at Vidhana Soudha, while several others added that it would be held at the stadium as well. Consequently, many people chose to leave one place to settle in another, causing even more danger.
