At around 3:30 PM, a colleague and I headed towards Chinnaswamy Stadium, unsure of what awaited us. Some mentioned an RCB victory parade inside the stadium, while others claimed the Chief Minister would felicitate the team at Vidhana Soudha.
We managed to enter the stadium, unaware that just beyond Gate 12 — the one we’d used — tragedy was beginning to unfold. By 4:45 PM, we heard murmurs about a fan’s death in a stampede. Confirmation was impossible: mobile networks were jammed and the enormous crowd made exiting difficult.
When I finally made my way outside, the first sight that struck me was a man carrying an unconscious woman on his shoulders, pleading desperately for assistance. A few good Samaritans helped him reach an ambulance, but the siren was drowned by the deafening cheers of fans.
Near the entrance, thousands waited eagerly to catch a glimpse of their cricketing idols. Before the team bus even arrived, I saw five individuals being carried away. At Gate 12, emergency staff and police outnumbered the fans. Ambulances were stuck in traffic and tried using the wrong side of the road — to no avail.
The police began using lathis to clear the way for the team bus. Rain suddenly poured, intensifying the confusion. Inside, oblivious to the tragedy, the crowd erupted as Virat Kohli lifted the trophy. Fireworks lit the sky, though barely visible in daylight.
By then, four deaths had been confirmed, yet the celebration inside carried on, undisturbed.
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