Bengaluru Stampede: Gut-Wrenching Stories Emerge After RCB's Victory Parade Turns Deadly

The grieving father of 18-year-old Manoj Kumar - a first-year college student who was among the 11 people killed in Wednesday's stampede. Shattered beyond belief, his inconsolable father was standing outside the Bowring Hospital mortuary.

"I did not allow him to clean the plates at my pani puri shop because I wanted him to go to college. I brought him up with a lot of care. Now, he is gone," said Kumar.

Photo Credit: @DKShivakumar via PTI Photo

At the Vydehi Hospital mortuary, another heartbroken parent - the mother of 22-year-old engineering student Prajwal G - was inconsolable, reported The Indian Express.

"He was crazy about RCB. He died in an RCB shirt," she told a relative. "They danced when RCB won and now he is gone. Can RCB give him back to us?" she said.

Manoj Kumar, a student of Presidency College in north Bengaluru, had gone to the RCB victory celebration with three friends from his neighbourhood.

"It was Manoj who insisted that we should go to the stadium," said his friend Satvik, while they waited outside the mortuary for Manoj's parents to arrive.

In the stampede, the group lost sight of Manoj.

They later learnt of his death from 24-year-old eyewitness Md Hussain, who had helped carry Manoj to Bowring Hospital and had his mobile phone.

"Around 3.35 pm, the crowd which had been waiting outside gate number 20 of the Chinnaswamy Stadium for over an hour became restless. When the gate was opened a bit for checking, the crowd pushed through the gate. There were only three policemen and a few stadium security guards," said Hussain, an MBA student.

"All those who suffered injuries or died had entered the stadium when they were trampled after falling down. This person's leg got stuck in a police barricade and he fell... some 500 people trampled over him. With police support, we had to fight with the crowd for two hours to get his body out of the stadium. It took another hour to take him to hospital," Hussain recounted.

"I had come with my friends. They entered... I couldn't as I halted to help those who were being trampled," he added.

Similar scenes unfolded at at least two other gates.

"There were three people who were moved from Gate 14 in police jeeps who died," said another eyewitness.

"The roads were completely jammed and ambulances could not reach the gates."

At Bowring Hospital, the body of 14-year-old Divyanshi from Kannuru in Bengaluru was identified by her family. She had attended the event with her mother, aunt, younger sister, and other relatives.

"There was no police presence at the stadium. There was no one to provide CPR or anything. We put her in a car and took her to hospital. There was so much police protection when the CM came but nothing at the stadium," said Divyanshi's aunt at the mortuary.

Devi, 29, an employee at a private firm in the city, had attended the event alone. A colleague, waiting at the mortuary for her family to arrive from Tamil Nadu, said: "We were trying to call her for a long time after hearing of the stampede... someone answered and asked us to come to the hospital," said Daivik.

Sahana, 21, who had joined an MNC recently, had left work early on Wednesday with seven colleagues. She was among those who lost their lives in the tragedy.

Poorna Chandra, 25, from Mandya district, had recently met his fiancée.

"In videos on social media, we saw people trying to revive him... and informed his family," said a family friend trying to locate his body at Bowring Hospital. It was eventually found at Vydehi Hospital.

"It could have been a paid event later which would have restricted the crowds," said Hussain.

IPL Chairman Arun Dhumal stated, "Whatever inquiry that needs to be done, the concerned authorities will do that. It was not a BCCI event. It is sad and tragic."