Fans stand next to abandonned shoes and a fallen barrier following a stampede during celebrations, a day after Royal Challengers Bengaluru's victory at the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 final cricket match, outside the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on June 4, 2025. At least 11 people were killed in a stampede on June 4, as a tightly packed crowd celebrated the victory of their home cricket team in the Indian city of Bengaluru, the state's chief minister said. Image: AFP
Celebrations of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) maiden IPL title in 18 years was marred by tragedy as at least 11 people were killed and 47 injured as fans cascaded on Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium for the victory celebrations. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the mishap was triggered by the presence of nearly 2 to 3 lakh fans trying to enter a stadium that has a capacity of about 35,000.
This is not the first time that sports fanaticism and administrative failure have resulted in crowd rush and the loss of lives. Forbes India recounts some of the major stadium tragedies:
Peru (1964)
Riots erupted at the Estadio Nacional stadium in Peru’s Lima as a refereeing dispute during an Olympic qualification match between Argentina and Peru put the hosts on the backfoot. Over 300 people were killed as fans turned violent, and a stampede ensued when crowd-control measures were deployed.
Dutch delegation (R) and relatives stand in a minute silence at the memorial to those who died in a stampede at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium October 20, 2007. At least 66 fans died in a stampede during the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem on October 20, 1982. Image: Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin (RUSSIA)
Russia (1982)
Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, which hosted the opening and the final matches of the 2018 football World Cup, was the site of a stampede during a European Football Association match between Spartak Moscow and Haarlem (of the Netherlands). The official death toll was 66. However, the incident, which was hushed up by the then-Communist regime for nearly a decade, is speculated to have caused fatalities upwards of 300.
1985: Ground staff clear the aftermath of the Heysel disaster after the European Cup Final between Liverpool and Juventus at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium. It was the last game any English club was allowed to play in Europe for ten years. Juventus won the match 1-0. \ Mandatory
Image: David Cannon/Allsport
Belgium (1985)
The 1985 European Cup final between Juventus and Liverpool at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels made headlines for the wrong reasons as fans, fearing violence, tried to exit only to be blocked by a wall that later crumbled on them. Thirty-nine fans, mostly Italian, were killed and hundreds injured.
Nepal (1988)
Panicked fans rushed towards the locked exit as a hailstorm interrupted a Tribhuvan College Shield match in Kathmandu, causing a stampede. Over 90 people were said to have been killed in the melee.
Floral tributes cover the pitch at Anfield, Liverpool, during a memorial ceremony held after the Hillsborough disaster, in which 96 Liverpool fans were killed in a crush at the Sheffield stadium, 22nd April 1989. Image: Georges De Keerle/Getty Images
UK (1989)
Ninety-seven Liverpool fans died and hundreds of spectators were injured during an FA Cup semifinal match between Liverpool and Nottingham at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, thanks to a jumbled-up entry plan drawn up by the local police. The match was halted 5 minutes after kick-off.
Guatemala (1996)
Fans shoving their way into a stadium already packed far beyond capacity caused a major tragedy in national capital Guatemala City, with at least 83 people being trampled or suffocated to death during a soccer World Cup qualification match between the hosts and Costa Rica.
A picture taken on July 12, 2017, shows a memorial for the 127 for who died during a local derby between Kumasi Asante Kotoko Football Club and Accra Hearts of Oak in 2001 at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Image: Pius Utomi Ekpei / AFP
Ghana (2001)
The 50,000-capacity Accra Sports Stadium, packed to the rafters, witnessed around 130 fatalities as fans rushed out of the stadium. They were trying to evade tear gas fired by the police to break up jousting fans as they began to break chairs and fling them on to the pitch.
Grieving relatives are helped to lay a wreath for those who died at Johannesburg's Ellis Park soccer stadium April 15, 2001. 43 people were crushed to death during a match at the stadium on Wednesday in South Africa's worst sporting accident.
Image: JN/CRB/Reuters/Juda Ngwenya
South Africa (2001)
Football fans who couldn’t make their way into Johannesburg’s Ellis Park Stadium during a league match broke through the boundary perimeter or climbed over gates, causing a stampede that resulted in at least 43 deaths. The match was called off after 34 minutes of play as administrators reportedly didn’t realise the situation initially.
Friends and relatives of the victims of a stadium crush attend a memorial at Felix Houphouet Boigny stadium in Abidjan April 1, 2009. At least 19 people were killed in the crush during a World Cup qualifier between Ivory Coast and Malawi in Abidjan on March 29, 2009.
Image: REUTERS/Luc Gnago
Ivory Coast (2009)
Shoving fans, some without tickets, jostled with and trampled upon each other shortly before the game between Ivory Coast and Malawi at the Félix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, killing 19 in a stampede. The same arena saw another stampede four years later, during a New Year’s fireworks show that caused at least 60 fatalities.
Protesters pray as they are blocked by police on their way to the interior ministry after a demonstration outside Cairo's Al Ahly football stadium on February 2, 2012 in Cairo, Egypt. The protest follows the deaths of 74 football fans who were killed in clashes between rival fans following the match between al-Masry and al-Alhy in Port Said, Egypt. Three days of mourning have been announced and marches are scheduled to protest at the lack of protection provided by police who were at the stadium when the violence occurred. Image: Carsten Koall/Getty Images
Egypt (2012)
Over 70 people were killed and thousands injured in clashes as rival fans, said to have been armed with knives, stormed the pitch after a soccer match between al-Masry and al-Ahly at a stadium in Port Said, Egypt. The Egyptian Premier League was suspended for two years following the violence.
Supporters and people lay flowers as they pay condolence to the victims outside Kanjuruhan Stadium on October 03, 2022 in Malang, Indonesia. A riot and stampede broke out at a football stadium in East Java on Saturday. Police fired tear gas to disperse fans who had invaded the pitch and began fighting after the match ended. A stampede for the exits has resulted in at least 125 deaths, local media reports said, with many still injured in hospitals.
Image: Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images
Indonesia (2022)
Police fired tear gas at pitch invaders as well into the stands leading to a mad rush of fans to exit the Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. One hundred and thirty-five people were killed during the match between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya, in what is touted to be the second-deadliest football disaster in history.