Bengaluru stampede: BCCI’s Rajeev Shukla defends Siddaramaiah as 11 die, says ‘can happen in any state’

RCB Victory Parade: In the aftermath of the fatal stampede during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) IPL victory celebrations at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president and Congress MP Rajeev Shukla has defended Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, urging that the incident should not be politicised.

Speaking to the media, Shukla said, “(Karnataka) Government did stop the roadshow in order to avoid stampede or any such situation. But, it was not anticipated that a stampede would happen outside the stadium. Everybody should work together on the damage control.” He emphasised that such incidents can occur anywhere, adding, “This can happen in any state and the ruling party should not be blamed for it. It should not be politicised. If this happens in a BJP-ruled state, we should not blame them.”

The tragic stampede outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru left 11 people dead and many injured as thousands gathered to celebrate RCB’s maiden IPL title win.

Rajeev Shukla noted the overwhelming size of the crowd, saying, “The crowd was huge, I spoke to the franchise, they also did not think that such a huge crowd would come and this incident happened suddenly.” He assured that efforts are underway to provide maximum assistance to the families of the deceased.

While BJP Karnataka chief Vijayendra claimed that 11 were dead in the RCB celebration stampede and demanded a judicial inquiry, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said, "no information on deaths in RCB celebrations in Bengaluru, will inform on receiving details."

The injured have been hospitalised at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in Shivajinagar and Vydehi Super Speciality Hospital here.

"Total sixteen casualties were brought in, four were brought dead, three are male and one female. They are of young age between 20-30 years....remaining 12 are stable," a Vydehi Super Speciality Hospital official said adding the cause of death may be due to suffocation.

Police used mild force to control the crowd and bring the situation under control ahead of a special felicitation at the stadium for the RCB team organised by the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA).

According to eye-witnesses at Chinnaswamy stadium, fans thronged the venue of felicitation and visuals showed police shifting the injured persons and those who fell unconscious in ambulances to nearby hospitals. Visuals also showed some of those who were in an unconscious state being administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by those nearby.

Police had a tough time in crowd management as a large number of cricket enthusiasts tried to gain entry, at the same time, into the stadium. According to a traffic advisory from the Bengaluru police, entry to Chinnaswamy Stadium was limited to only those with valid tickets and passes."As there is limited parking facility available near the Chinnaswamy Stadium, those who are attending the event are advised to use public transport and Metro. The public is requested to cooperate," it had said.