Home Sports Cricket Chaos, Confusion, Catastrophe — Inside the Making of Bengaluru Stampede
Chaos, Confusion, Catastrophe — Inside the Making of Bengaluru Stampede
Eyewitnesses — fans, journalists and insiders — recall the horrors of 4 June.
Shuvaditya Bose
Cricket
Updated:
i
Inside the horrors of Bengaluru Stampede.
(Photo: PTI)
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Irfan Khan had shut his mobile shop much earlier than usual on 4 June. Just a stone’s throw away, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) players were being felicitated at the Vidhana Soudha — the seat of the Karnataka Legislature — for their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title. He could ill-afford to miss the celebrations.
When he isn’t busy selling phones, Khan doubles as a social worker, often seen assisting the needy at hospitals. A hospital visit, though, wasn’t on his agenda yesterday — until it had to be. Having joined a celebratory party, he ended up carrying fellow RCB fans — some with broken limbs, some knocked unconscious — to the Bowring Hospital. Not one or a couple, with 23 of them.
As Khan looks back on the ill-fated day of horror, his only consolation is that all of those 23 are currently — for the lack of a more jubilant term — alive.
While Khan was outside the stadium, helping evacuate the wounded, Samson (name changed for privacy) was inside, trying to quell panic in the stands. A member of the organising team, he had sensed trouble far earlier than most — noticing the sheer absence of law enforcement and any semblance of crowd control. Soon, in front of his eyes, a man will get crushed by the crowd.
In that same crowd was Satish (name changed), who calls himself the most fortunate, on what was an ill-fated day, to still be breathing, As he recalls, he was mere centimetres from being trampled, narrowly escaping death when a broken railing nearly trapped his foot.
Journalist Tarutr Malhotra considers himself fortunate, too, for he ditched his Chinnaswamy plans after witnessing the sheer mismanagement at Vidhana Soudha. Except, he wonders why the authorities could not foresee what he could.
In a disastrous turn of events, ecstasy turned to agony for numerous fans on Wednesday, 4 June, resulting in the loss of 11 lives — the youngest of them being a 13-year-old.
In the aftermath, The Quint spoke with four eyewitnesses to uncover the full extent of the tragedy. Four cricket fans, united by their grief and one lingering thought: this disaster didn’t have to happen.
The recurring theme across first-hand accounts is the panic — born of confusion, and rooted, unmistakably, in a lack of communication.
To truly understand, you need to know the context.
At 7:01am on 4 June, RCB’s social media handles confirmed a ‘Victory Parade,’ starting from the Vidhana Soudha and ending at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, with the event slated to commence at 3:30 pm. In a media advisory, an open-top bus parade was also confirmed.
Yet, later in the day, reports began circulating that the parade had been called off. At 3:14 pm, however, the franchise clarified it was still on, only delayed — now set to start at 5 pm. An event at the stadium was to follow, but entry was strictly for pass-holders.
Except, by then, thousands had already flocked to the stadium, unaware of any pass requirement.
How a Hardware Engineer Escaped Death
Hardware engineer Satish, who was there with his friends, recalls the confusion surrounding the event:
There was a lot of confusion throughout the day. We came to know there will be an open-top bus parade in the morning, then we heard that it has been cancelled. No one knew the plans for sure, so we decided to leave for the stadium early. At least that way, we could still see our favourite cricketers, be it not at the parade. But while I was on a metro, at the Majestic station, RCB uploaded a post saying one must have passes to attend the event at the stadium. Everyone inside the metro was devastated. The ticketing app (Ticketgenie) kept crashing, no one could book anything, and no one was in a mood to go back. That was when a friend’s mother, who was already at the stadium by then, called me and said that the police officials have ensured the fans everyone will be allowed to enter, irrespective of whether they have a ticket.
Satish, Hardware Engineer
That decision — to open the gates to all — Satish believes, ultimately triggered the stampede.
That is what I feel caused the stampede of yesterday. There was clearly a strength mismatch. On one hand, you have a rogue group, pushing everyone aside to barge in. Then, there is another group who are protecting their kids and partners. Upon being told that everyone will be let inside, those who went rogue shoved everyone. I saw women and kids stumbling down. A railing had fallen on the ground, and I consider myself lucky that my legs didn’t get stuck, because that might have been the end of me. Such was the rush that I didn’t even had to walk — people at the back kept pushing me and the next thing I know is I am inside the stadium.
While Satish headed straight to the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Irfan and Tarutr chose to be at the Vidhana Soudha.
Initially, I got the news that there will be a parade at 3:30 pm, so I went there by 2:45 pm. Whatever anyone had heard about the parade came from unverified channels, but when people are celebrating, they will follow everything that they get. When I reached there, I was astonished to see there was no crowd management infrastructure at all. Thousands had turned up, and there was not a single information kiosk or helpdesk. It was all very disorganised. No one had any confirmation about what was going to happen. There were conflicting reports of a parade. I’ve lived in Bengaluru for 30 years so I knew that with the level of mismanagement that I saw, there is no way they will pull off the event smoothly, so I decided not to go the stadium.
Tarutr Malhotra, Journalist
Like Satish, Tarutr believes the chaos was a product of communication failure.
The atmosphere was very chill initially. People were in a party mood, everyone was celebrating. But, the confusion added to the chaos. I remember a policeman telling me the parade has been called off, and then another policeman saying it is back on, before being told it is off by a third inspector. And while I am on my way back after being told it is off, I saw the same inspector giving fans directions to reach Chinnaswamy. I would not say there was any malicious intent from anyone — it is just that no one had any clarity about anything.
Tarutr Malhotra, Journalist
The Shop Owner Who Saved Lives
Tarutr might have decided against taking the 1km walk from Vidhana Soudha to Chinnaswamy, but among the thousands who did was Irfan. Except, upon reaching there, he found a huge crowd was already waiting outside the stadium, and it was a catastrophe waiting to happen.
Firstly, a huge crowd had already gathered outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium. To add to that, the entire gathering of Vidhana Soudha had also begun rushing to the stadium. Fans knew that they might not have been able to see the RCB players at Vidhana Soudha, but they can certainly catch their glimpse at the stadium. This resulted in a crowd that went out of everyone’s control. The number of policemen were severely inadequate to manage this big a crowd. It was claustrophobic enough just to stand outside — people could barely breathe. But things took a ghastly turn when they opened the gates and everyone stumbled one upon another.
Irfan Khan, Mobile Shop Owner & Social Worker
The crowd turnout at Vidhana Soudha.
(Photo: PTI)
He adds:
With police being helpless, getting inside the stadium became a contest of muscle power. Those who were strong managed to barge their way inside, while the weaker ones got crushed. They say that such a turnaround was not expected, but then again, when every IPL game at the Chinnaswamy Stadium is a sold out affair, how did anyone not expect 3-4 lakh people to turn up for a free event? For the state, RCB means a huge deal. The organisers should have known what might happen.
Irfan Khan, Mobile Shop Owner & Social Worker
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Insights From an Organising Team Member
Much before the aforementioned trio were witnessing the horrors, Samson got a call from the organising committee. He was supposed to report at 2 pm, and work till 11 pm. Not that he could raise questions, but he knew an event of a scale this massive cannot be pulled off in such a short notice.
I got a call in the morning, saying I need to report by 2 pm. They wanted to organise the event while the players were still with the team, because by now, everyone has left. This hurry is what caused the loss of so many lives, because there was no chance of pulling off a successful event of this scale in such a short notice. There should have been a proper plan in place.
Samson, Member of the Organising Team
He can only wish he could erase memories of 4 June, except, he knows it is a scar that might not ever heal.
From the organisational side — they massively underestimated the turnout. But how could they? Fans have waited 18 years to see RCB winning the IPL, such a turnout was expected. I reached the stadium at 2 pm, and many fans had already flocked by then. The scenes I saw, I will never forget. I saw a fan getting pushed and falling from the first floor. I saw a fan suffocating and losing consciousness. I saw fans getting crushed. People were treated like street dogs. Piled up one upon another, left out to dry. Some desperately sought help from the police, who themselves were helpless. I saw a policeman telling a fan ‘You’ve come here by yourself, so go back by yourself.’ You cannot really blame them when there is around 300 police inside the stadium for 3 lakh fans.
Samson, Member of the Organising Team
Fans climbing up walls to catch a glimpse of their heroes.
(Photo: PTI)
‘What Was the Reason Behind Planning Two Events?’
Had it not been for people like Irfan, we might have been hearing about more unfortunate updates.
It was utter chaos. I realised emergency services are nowhere near adequate enough, so us, civilians, will need to save lives. Just by myself, I dragged out 23 people from the melee and helped transporting them to the Bowring hospital. Someone had a broken limb, someone was knocked unconscious, there were thousands of shoes and slippers scattered everywhere. It was a scary sight — an image I don't know if I will ever be able to forget.
Irfan Khan, Mobile Shop Owner & Social Worker
Echoing similar sentiments, Tarutr says:
What added to the tension was the abject lack of planning. People had started flocking to Vidhana Soudha from the morning itself. And the worst part of it was that we couldn’t watch anything that happened inside, because the felicitation was near the side gate, and it was not visible from where most of us where. When you have an excited bunch of fans waiting to see their heroes for four hours and then you cannot provide them with basic information — the police in front of saying there won’t be any parade just minutes after RCB confirming there will be one — it is natural for the fans to get anxious.
Tarutr Malhotra, Journalist
Organisational Fault — Acknowledges the Organisation Team Member
Samson believes the chaos would have been avoided, if only the announcement of the stadium celebrations requiring passes came earlier than afternoon.
This could have been avoided if only they took a few steps. Firstly, they should have told well in advance that only those with passes can enter the stadium. Imagine — I was a part of the organising team, and even I did not know that this will be a ticketed event! I did not even have any confirmation on whether the parade has been cancelled or not. If your organising team’s members don’t have any information, then imagine what it was like for the fans. Most of the fans who managed to enter the stadium yesterday did not have a pass. How would they? I heard the servers crashed as soon as the tickets went on sale. In fact, I would even go on to say that the only ones I saw with passes were high-ranking officials and VVIPs.
Samson, Member of the Organising Team
Even without prior information, Samson feels opening the corporate boxes to general fans might have mitigated the situation.
When you have such a huge crowd at a small stadium like Chinnaswamy, the least you can do is open every stand and not squeeze everyone into a small area. Yet, the VVIP stands were not open to public access yesterday, while people were dying outside. If you see the photos, the stands exactly opposite to where the RCB players were giving their speeches were kept empty. Perhaps, with the crowd going rogue, they felt that fans will destroy the VVIP facilities.
Samson, Member of the Organising Team
Amid deaths, the corporate stands were kept empty.
(Photo: Sourced by The Quint)
Satish adds that ticket examiners were present at the venue, except they were as useful as a chocolate teapot.
Once I was inside, I found out there indeed were ticket examiners stationed at the venue, but they were helpless. Barely anyone had a pass. I turned around and saw a few people falling down, but the crowd kept pushing me forward. How would they check for passes in such a scenario? It was all madness.
Satish, Hardware Engineer
The quartet might have survived 4 June, but on behalf of the many who didn't, they want to raise questions. Will the authorities answer?
I demand an answer from whoever is responsible, be it the government or RCB — why did you organise this event in such a short notice, with no planning at all? Why not plan it out? It could have easily be planned in a better manner. By the grace of god, none of the 23 people I evacuated succumbed to their injuries. But the scenes I saw, the horrors of it — it could have been easily avoided.
Irfan Khan, Mobile Shop Owner & Social Worker
I have a simple question. How do you decide to pull off a party involving 2-3 lakh people with no plan at all? What was your strategy?
Tarutr Malhotra, Journalist
Ashamed, but helpless, Samson concludes:
I was supposed to work for the organisation team. I can tell you — there was zero semblance of organisation in this event. It is not necessary to celebrate by putting people’s lives at risk.
