Free ticket's rumour led to Bengaluru stampede that killed 11

The Bengaluru stampede at Chinnaswamy Stadium that killed 11 people was caused by rumours of free tickets being distributed at gate number 7, which lured people to the accident spot as several fans went rushing towards the entrance.

Within minutes, gate number 7, which offers a prime view of those entering the stadium, turned into chaos after Royal Challengers Bengaluru fans hurried towards the area, leading people to fall over each other.

The situation at Chinnaswamy turned into a nightmare after thousands of fans gathered at the stadium to celebrate RCB’s historic win in the Indian Premier League on Tuesday.

The stadium is equipped with 21 stands and 13 gates. Gates 9 and 10 were designated for members of the state cricket association, while gates 5, 6, 7, 19, and 20, situated along the main entry route for the team, experienced the densest crowding. The highest number of casualties occurred at gate 7.

What went wrong?

At the outset, poor crowd management. Several factors led to the tragedy, however, all of them stemmed from dysfunctional crowd management. According to a report by News18, police authorities were anticipating far fewer people at the celebrations.

Although the initial estimate was around 2.5 lakh people, the actual crowd that began gathering for the victory celebrations, especially around Vidhana Soudha, where the team was to be honoured by the state government, nearly tripled that figure.

“People did not heed our advisories or the repeated public announcements asking them to disperse. They were determined to reach the venue no matter what," one police officer told the news outlet.

What has the govt said?

After hours of confusion over the death toll, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Wednesday that 11 people had tragically lost their lives in the stampede.

Expressing grief over the incident, calling it an “unexpected tragedy”, he announced Rs 10 lakh as compensation to the kin of all those deceased, while also ordering a magisterial inquiry into the incident.

“The Karnataka state cricket association had organised a programme for the victory celebration (at the stadium), there was also a programme from the government (at Vidhana Soudha). At the Chinnaswamy Stadium, a big tragedy happened. Due to the stampede, 11 people have died and 33 have suffered injuries,” Siddaramaiah said.

Speaking to reporters after visiting the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital and Vydehi Super Speciality Hospital here, he said such a tragedy shouldn’t have happened. The government expresses grief over the incident.

With inputs from agencies