A day after a deadly stampede outside M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru claimed 11 lives and left scores injured, witnesses pointed to the glaring absence of emergency medical preparedness which compounded the tragedy that unfolded during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) victory celebrations.
Nearly 300,000 people had gathered around the stadium on Wednesday evening in the hopes of seeing RCB players. With limited crowd control measures in place and security arrangements collapsing under pressure, many were trampled or fell unconscious, fans that witnessed the chaos said.
“There was absolutely no crowd control. People were just pouring in without even showing passes. The barricades had been trampled, people were climbing onto trees, and the area was littered with abandoned footwear,” said Niranjan Gowda, a software engineer who witnessed the crush up close.
He recounted seeing victims gasp for air as they fell to the ground. “A police officer moved two people, who were struggling to breathe, into an auto rickshaw. No one stopped to help, everyone was fixated on getting inside and recording videos. It was heartless.”
Ambulances were unable to navigate the tightly packed crowd and choked roads, forcing bystanders and police to transport injured people in private vehicles and auto-rickshaws, said Jagannath BR, a hotel employee, who also attended the celebrations. “Many, including police, called ambulances from different hospitals, but the large crowd outside gates affected movement of ambulances,” he said.
While taking cognisance of the incident on Thursday, the Karnataka high court recorded that only two ambulances had been deployed for the event. The court noted that timely cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) might have saved some of the lives lost in the stampede.
Medical professionals at hospitals receiving the injured echoed the gravity of the situation. Dr Humera at Vydehi Super Speciality Hospital sad that emergency calls began coming in around 3.30pm. “The first injured arrived at 3.45pm, followed by others at 4.10pm, 4.45 pm, and 5.30 pm. Unfortunately, all those brought in during that time were declared dead on arrival,” the doctor said
The hospital received seven patients during Wednesday’s chaos. “Four were brought dead, two — aged 24 and 29— are under treatment and will be discharged tomorrow. One person was treated as an outpatient,” Dr Humera added.
A nurse at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in Shivaji Nagar said that the hospital admitted at least 20 people injured from the incident site. “Six of the deceased were brought dead. Of the remaining, 10 have been discharged, and four are still being treated,” she said on the condition of anonymity.
Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, who visited the injured at Bowring Hospital, expressed anguish over the accounts he heard. “I was really pained after hearing from a deceased’s mother. The state government stands with the victims and will ensure proper medical care for the injured,” he said.