Eleven people were killed and Dozens injured in a crush outside a cricket stadium in Bengaluru, who organized a victory parade to celebrate the victory of the Premier League of the Home Team, said the chief minister.
Thousands of people aligned the streets on Wednesday to welcome the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) who beat the Kings of Punjab in the IPL Cricket final the day before.
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah told journalists that the authorities did not expect the number of people who had turned out.
A police official told the BBC that more than 200,000 people came out for the victory parade, but they had only planned half of this amount.
When the tragedy struck, the stadium doors “were not even opened, but there were so many people who were trying to pass through a small door that the jostling took place,” said an official.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that “the accident in Bengaluru was heartbreaking” adding that his “thoughts are with all those who lost their relatives”.
The chief minister of the state, Siddaramaiah, said that he was “deeply shocked by the tragic losses of lives”.
“A moment of joy has been overshadowed by sorrow,” he added.
The RCB team arrived by a special flight at Old Hal airport to be received by the deputy minister -chief of Karnataka, DK Shivakumar. They were taken to a procession at the hotel.
It was a precursor of the reception on the markets of the majestic Vidhana Soudha, seat of the state legislature, where governor Thawarchand Gehlot, chief minister Sidramaiah and other ministers met the team.
The team was then to drive, once again, to a stadium procession before the crushing occurred.
Before the incident, masses of people from different parts of the city had headed for the stadium on all modes of transport with RCB jerseys.
Metro trains were so excited that several people – including this journalist – could not enter any compartment. All this while passengers inside the train and outside sang the name of the team in Chorus.
Automotive pushes and taxis did not respond to requests from people who wanted to be abandoned near the stadium. Those who accepted dropped the commuters several kilometers.
After relationships of people losing their lives in the crush spread, people began to rush into metro stations.
The authorities closed the stations around the stadium when huge crowds had gathered on the platforms.
