BENGALURU: Despite more than 10 fans dying in a stampede just outside the M Chinnaswamy stadium and near Vidhana Soudha, authorities went ahead with the grand celebration of RCB's maiden IPL title victory.
The celebrations included the playing of "We are the Champions", sung by Queen.
Virat Kohli in a speech said, "It's no more ee sala cup namde, it's ee sala cup namdu", while congratulating all the fans whom he called unparalleled when it came to the trust and love they had conferred on the team.
The celebration at the Chinnaswamy stadium, which started at around 5pm, was cancelled a little after 6:30 pm after news of the stampede deaths reached the organisers.
Those dead in the stampede included a woman and a girl studying in Class 9.
14-year-old Divyanshi had come to the stadium with her father Shivakumar and mother Ashwini. She died of suffocation after being caught in the stampede.
Following the news of the deaths and of the injured being taken to hospitals, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah rushed to the Bowring hospital located near the stadium.
The stampede ensued after the situation outside the Chinnaswamy stadium went out of control with the police being left overwhelmed after large crowds started to gather from 4 pm.
The crowd first began to build up at the Vidhana Soudha where the CM was honouring the RCB team. Post the Vidhana Soudha event, the plan was to honour the team at the Chinnaswamy stadium.
Crowds in the meantime had also started to gather at the stadium to be a part of the celebrations. In fact, the government had asked people to attend the celebrations at the stadium instead of milling around the Vidhana Soudha.
The opposition BJP slammed the government for its failure to manage the crowds and for their failure to prevent the stampede from happening.
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said since the crowd comprised mostly of youngsters, police could use force to disperse the crowd.
Metro services stopped
In wake of the surging crowd around CBD areas in Bengaluru, the management of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) announced that Metro rail services from Cubbon Park and Vidhana Soudha Metro stations have been stopped.
Sources said this had been done for the first time as the crowd was swelling that the decision had been taken.
Metro officials stated that services were stopped from these two prime metro stations in CBD areas located near Chinnaswamy stadium, from 4.30 pm.
They will continue to be closed till further notice, until the situation improves.
The passengers are advised to plan their journeys accordingly and use alternate metro stations for their travel needs, the statement issued said.