Lessons and questions from Bengaluru stampede tragedy that took 11 young lives

A chaotic celebration in Bengaluru following RCB's title win led to a deadly stampede that led to the death of 11 people.

The stampede near Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4, which claimed the lives of 11 young people, most of them under 30, stands as one of the city’s most heartbreaking and wholly avoidable tragedies in recent memory. Known once as the "Pensioner's Paradise," Bengaluru now finds itself in national headlines for reasons both mundane and tragic. But this - a stampede linked to a cricket celebration - is something the city was neither prepared for nor accustomed to.

A heart-wrenching picture from Bengaluru stampede tragedy which claimed eleven lives.

When Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) finally lifted their maiden IPL trophy after 18 years, it was a moment of uncontainable joy for fans. The team’s signature chant, "Ee Sala Cup Namde", had finally turned into reality. 

The events unfolded within less than 24 hours of RCB’s title win. An open-top bus parade was publicly announced by RCB early on June 4. The rally was set to start from Vidhana Soudha to Chinnaswamy Stadium, right through Bengaluru’s busiest Central Business District.

But here lies the first big question, “Was the Bengaluru Police informed?". RCB’s announcement of the ‘Victory Parade’ appeared to have caught city police off guard. Just two hours later, the traffic police said on X that there is “no victory parade”.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar welcomed the RCB team at the airport and took them to Vidhana Soudha. Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma, present with her husband Virat Kohli, even posted videos of the massive crowd chasing the team bus, calling the experience “unbelievable.” 

By 3:30 PM, RCB’s official handles again posted that the ‘Victory Parade’ would happen, urging fans to follow police instructions — contradicting police statements. Multiple reports suggest that the Bengaluru Police had raised red flags about the parade, but there was internal pressure to go ahead regardless. 

As the political blame-game continues, the public is raising questions about the lack of a unified crisis response team and the conflicting messages from officials and organisers.