A joyous congregation near Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium turned into a tragedy as a stampede claimed the lives of at least eleven individuals and injured many others, sources as quoted by CNN-News18 reported. The tragedy took place while thousands of fans had gathered to celebrate Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s record-breaking IPL 2025 victory.
The fatal stampede is said to have occurred at gates 3, 10, and 21 of the stadium. The fans had rushed in large numbers to catch a glimpse of their cricket idols, including Virat Kohli, who led the team to its first IPL title in 18 years after it beat Punjab Kings in the final by six runs in Ahmedabad.
After the mishap, metro stations within five kilometres of the spot: Cubbon Park, Vidhana Soudha, and MG Road were closed as a precautionary measure.
The injured were taken to Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital and Vaidehi Hospital. Seven of the victims died at Bowring Hospital, and four died at Vaidehi Hospital.
#BreakingNews | Stampede like situation at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru as a sea of crowd gathered for #RCB celebration@harishupadhya with the latest @JamwalNews18 | #RCBvsPBKS #IPLFinals #ViratKohli #IPL2025 #rcbwin pic.twitter.com/q538sR4QiW
— News18 (@CNNnews18) June 4, 2025
Prior to the public celebration at the stadium, RCB team members had paid a visit to Vidhana Soudha in order to meet Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Political Reactions and Blame Game
The tragedy led to political outcry, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing the Congress-led government in Karnataka of alleged administrative failure. BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya tweeted, “Lives were lost because of negligence and not luck,” and demanded that the perpetrators must be brought to book. He labeled the tragedy as an act of ‘criminal negligence’.
Tragic stampede in Bengaluru. A celebration has turned into a nightmare.
At an event organised by the Karnataka State Government to celebrate RCB’s IPL campaign, a stampede broke out due to poor planning and crowd mismanagement.
➡️ 7 people have lost their lives
➡️ 16 injured,…— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) June 4, 2025
Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya also asked citizens to celebrate responsibly. “Let this moment of happiness not be marred by tragedy,” he posted on X.
