Cricket fans in India are celebrating their team’s victory. Stampage turned into a tragedy

Bangalore, India - The Indian stadium is packed with a bunch of cricket-crazy fans celebrating the long-awaited victory of their favorite team. Outside, more crowds were pushing over the gate, hoping to get a glimpse of their cherished cricket.

The turnout of the crowd far exceeded expectations. Thousands of people try to force their own way.

Then the tragedy happened.

The gates running towards the stadium turned into a deadly crowd on Wednesday, with at least 11 people dead and more than 30 others injured in the southern Indian city of Bangalore on Wednesday. Most victims, including young students, were trampled or suffocated after being struggling in uncontrollable populations.

In a poor management of a group of people, stampedes are another incident in which a group of people fall into trouble, often leading to accidents. This also underscores India’s enthusiasm for cricket stars – fans of the game follow the players’ every move – and can easily turn to the deadly if the crowd is not managed correctly.

The incident occurred when crowds began to flock outside the M. Chinnaswamy stadium, where the state government celebrated the Royal Challenger Bangalore cricket team. After 18 years, the team finally won the final of the Indian Premier League on Tuesday - the world's most popular T20 Cricket Championship. Joyful crowds poured into the city streets all night.

By late Wednesday afternoon, thousands of people began moving in towards the stadium. City police later said about 50,000 people gathered within a 1km radius of the stadium, and more people continued to influx.

Some fans zoomed on the stadium’s gates and exterior walls. Others tried to break the metal door. Soon, people began to fall down each other.

BV Shivkumar's 14-year-old daughter Divyanshi Shivakumar is with her mother and aunt. Shivkumar said the three women approached the gate, but fans scrambled to enter the stadium to make them collide with each other. Then a secret love follows.

Divyanshi suffered a head injury. Her mother and aunt drove her to the hospital and later died.

"My wife begged the police and everyone there, but no one helped," Shivkumar, who only used one name, said at his Bangalore home, surrounded by relatives who showed condolences there.

Shivkumar said he was particularly angry with the fact that the ceremony in the stadium continued while people were being crushed outside.

"Who cares about the losses of the people?" he asked.

Cricket was followed by hundreds of millions of people in India, where it attracted record TV and digital viewers. It has also been a key part of India's global brand for decades. For many fans, glimpsing their favorite cricketer is not a dream come true, even if it means risking your life.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who used only one name, said at least 200,000 cricket fans were on city streets on Wednesday, at least four times as expected by the authorities. His agent DK Shivakumar said 5,000 police officers have been deployed to provide security, but the "young, dynamic crowd" is becoming increasingly "out of control."

"This tragedy hides the joy of victory," he said on social platform X.

After that, the incident turned into a political tug-of-war, with the opposition raising questions about hasty arrangements. Cricket administration in India said they didn’t know who planned the event and that players in the stadium didn’t realize their crush until they started answering the phone.

Meanwhile, India’s top cricketers and franchise teams also expressed their condolences. "No word. Definitely eliminated," Virat Kohli, the biggest star player of the game, wrote on Instagram.

The victim’s families are struggling so hard that they feel incredible and angry at the way the rise of the celebrations falls into tragedy.

Divyanshi's father said the authorities should do better so that the lost lives can be saved.

"Now it's parents who will suffer."

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Saaliq reported on New Delhi.