Shamili isn’t even a fan of cricket, so leaving her house in Bengaluru, India on Wednesday was not to see her preferred team.
But the hype around the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB’s) Indian Premier League triumph parade—the home team won the championship for the first time—had spread over the city like wildfire.
Looking forward festivities, Shamili accompanied her sister and friends close to the Chinnaswamy Stadium wearing an RCB shirt with “18 Virat,” paying homage to the city’s beloved cricket icon.
She was not expecting to be caught in a terrible crush.
The triumph procession became fatal when explosive masses far beyond what officials anticipated caused a terrible crush killing 11 individuals and injuring hundreds more.
After the celebration turned into disaster, survivors like Shamili are now dealing with trauma, pain, and a sense of disbelief.
Sitting on a bed in the government-run Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, Shamili remembered, “I kept saying, ‘let’s go, let’s go’ – the crowd was getting out of control”. “I was on the ground next thing I knew. People were strolling across my space. I believed I would pass death.
She is not an isolated person. Many who had come simply to enjoy the ambiance—fans, families, curious onlookers—found themselves caught in a tsunami of people as throngs surged beyond control.
Police expected no more than 100,000 persons. Actually, the chief minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, reported that the turnout ranged from 200,000 to 300,000. Long before the players arrived, the 32,000 capacity stadium was overrun.
Before the crush, videos showed people scaling stadium walls and climbing trees.
“I was only observing the throngs at the main gate. People were sprinting all around at once, and the police began lathis-based striking of individuals,” he added.
To try and calm throngs, Indian police sometimes use lathis, long bamboo sticks.
Mr. Mohammed started to bleed after being struck in the head with a lathi. According to him, the cops set aside a car right away to get him to the hospital. The eleven victims span 13 to 43 years of age.
Divyanshi, the younger, Class 9 student, had arrived at the stadium with her mother and other family members. Other victims were young tech workers visiting the stadium with colleagues and college students.
Most of them were “brought dead to hospital,” according to a physician speaking under cover of anonymity, either from asphyxia or broken ribs. The huge throngs had delayed ambulances arriving to the crush scene.
After being praised on the footsteps of the Vidhana Soudha – the seat of power in Karnataka – by the governor, chief minister and other ministers, the RCB squad entered the stadium even as anarchy and panic broke out on the roadways around the Chinnaswamy stadium.
“They started a triumph lap around the stadium. A young man speaking under condition of anonymity said inside the stadium that nothing had happened outside.”
Arun Dhumal, chairman of the IPL, said he was unsure of who had organised the Bengaluru event and that RCB officials inside the stadium were not aware of the crush until they received phone calls.
