RCB continued victory celebrations even after first death reported before felicitation: Report

The celebrations for Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) first-ever IPL title win turned tragic on 4 June, as 11 fans lost their lives in a stampede at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. A new report has now emerged showing that the first death happened even before the official felicitation at Vidhana Soudha began.

First death recorded before celebrations began

According to a report in The Indian Express, the first fan death was recorded at 3:45 pm. So, RCB and the state government had the option to cancel everything, but they went ahead with the celebrations despite the tragedy. A grand event was held on the steps of the Vidhana Soudha from 4 to 5 pm.

Top leaders including Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar were present to honour the RCB team. Another event took place at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium from 5 to 6 pm. The stampede incident occurred before the RCB team arrived at the venue.

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Safety warnings ignored

Thousands of fans had gathered at the Chinnaswamy Stadium since 1 pm after the RCB team offered free entry to supporters to join the celebration. The post was deleted after the incident. Earlier, the Bengaluru traffic police had cancelled an open-bus parade due to safety concerns but allowed other celebrations to go ahead as planned.

There is now a growing controversy and anger over why the celebrations were not stopped even after the first death. The Karnataka government launched an investigation into the matter and will submit a report to the High Court on Thursday. Meanwhile, RCB’s marketing head Nikhil Sosale has been arrested, while several top officials have been suspended.

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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is expected to formulate norms for IPL victory celebrations in their upcoming Apex Council Meeting on Saturday. Earlier, the BCCI had admitted that the celebrations could have been organised in a better way. BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia had said that proper safety measures should have been taken by the organisers.

RCB defeated Punjab Kings by 6 runs in the IPL 2025 final to end their 18-year-long wait for the title.