Bengaluru stampede: From RCB victory parade at Chinnaswamy Stadium to Maha Kumbh — list of major stampedes in India

Crowd of fans gather at Vidhana Soudha for felicitation of IPL 2025 winning Royal Challengers Bengaluru team, in Bengaluru. (PTI Photo)

Bengaluru stampede: The victory parade of Royal challengers Bangalore (RCB) after IPL 2025 win turned into a horror after a stampede near the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru left at least 11 people dead and several injured on Wednesday. The stampede  that followed RCB's celebration of their maiden IPL win after 18 years was another instance of deadly crowd gathering in the country.

Earlier this year, over 50 people in total lost their lives in stampedes this year at temple celebrations, at railway station and at the Maha Kumbh gathering. On February 15, 2025, a stampede broke out at the platform number 14 and 15 at the New Delhi Railway Station in the capital. 18 people died and 15 were injured in the incident, mostly pilgrims looking to board trains from Delhi to Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj.

At Prayagraj, a stampede had broken out on January 29 at the Sangam area of the Maha Kumbh as lakhs of pilgrims jostled for space to take a holy dip on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya — one of the most auspicious days of the Hindu calendar. Thirty people were killed and 60 were injured in the incident.

Here is a list of some of other major tragedies that have taken place in the country in recent years:

* May 3, 2025: Six persons died and around 100 people were injured in the stampede in the early hours during an annual festival of Sri Lairai Devi temple at Shirgao village in Goa.

* February 15, 2025: At least 18 people, including women and children, died in a stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station. They were waiting to board the train to Prayagraj for Maha Kumbh.

* January 29, 2025: Thirty people were killed and 60 were injured at a stampede at the Sangam area of the Maha Kumbh as millions of pilgrims jostled for space to participate in 'Amrit Snan'.

* January 8, 2025: At least six devotees were killed and dozens were injured in a stampede as hundreds of them jostled for tickets for Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam at Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirumala Hills.

* December 4, 2024: A 35-year-old woman died and a boy was injured at Sandhya Theatre in Hyderabad in a stampede where Allu Arjun's blockbuster 'Pushpa 2' was screened.

* July 2, 2024: More than 100 people, including women and children, were killed after a stampede broke out at a 'satsang' (prayer meeting) organised by a self-styled godman, Bhole Baba aka Narayan Saakar Hari, in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras.

* March 31, 2023: At least 36 people died when the slab constructed on top of an ancient ‘bawdi’ or well collapsed during a ‘havan’ programme held on the occasion of Ram Navami at a temple in Indore city.

* January 1, 2022: At least 12 people died and over a dozen were injured in a stampede at the famous Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir triggered by a heavy rush of devotees.

* September 29, 2017: Twenty-three people lost their lives and 36 were injured in the stampede on the narrow bridge connecting the Elphinstone Road station of the Western Railway with Parel station of the Central Railway in Mumbai.

* July 14, 2015: Twenty-seven pilgrims died and 20 others were injured in a stampede at a major bathing spot on the banks of the Godavari river where a huge crowd of devotees had gathered on the opening day of ‘Pushkaram’ festival in Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh

* October 3, 2014: Thirty-two people were killed and 26 others injured in a stampede at Gandhi Maidan in Patna, shortly after the Dussehra celebrations ended.

* October 13, 2013: 115 people were killed and over 100 injured in a stampede during the Navratri festivities near Ratangarh temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Datia district. The stampede was triggered by rumours that a river bridge the devotees were crossing was about to collapse.

* November 19, 2012: Around 20 people were killed and many others injured as a makeshift bridge caved in, triggering a stampede during the Chhath Puja at Adalat Ghat on the bank of river Ganga in Patna.

* November 8, 2011: At least 20 people were killed in a stampede in Haridwar at Har-ki-Pauri ghat on the banks of the Ganga river.

* January 14, 2011: At least 104 Sabarimala devotees were killed and over 40 were injured in a stampede when a jeep crashed into homebound pilgrims at Pulmedu in Kerala’s Idukki district.

* March 4, 2010: About 63 people were killed in a stampede at Ram Janki Temple of Kripalu Maharaj in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh district as people gathered to collect free clothes and food from the self-styled godman.

* September 30, 2008: Nearly 250 devotees were killed and over 60 injured in a stampede triggered by rumours of a bomb going off at Chamunda Devi temple in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur city.

* August 3, 2008: 162 dead, 47 injured in a stampede triggered by rumours of rockslides at Naina Devi temple in Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur district.

* January 25, 2005: Over 340 devotees were trampled to death and hundreds injured during an annual pilgrimage at Mandhardevi temple in Maharashtra’s Satara district. The accident occurred when some people fell down on the steps made slippery by the devotees breaking coconuts.

* August 27, 2003: 39 people were killed and around 140 injured in a stampede during the holy bath at the Kumbh Mela in Maharashtra’s Nashik district.

(With PTI inputs)