'Cannot Digest That Our Children…': DK Shivakumar Breaks Down While Speaking To Media After Bengaluru Stampede

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar broke down while speaking to the media and recounted his experience of witnessing young people lying dead after the incident.

Photo Credit: IANS

Bengaluru Stampede: As the fans gathered to join in the victory celebrations of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), a tragic stampede happened outside the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday. 11 people lost their lives, and several others were injured in the incident. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar broke down on camera while speaking to the media about the stampede. 

The Karnataka government has ordered a Magisterial inquiry into the tragedy and instructed to submit the investigation report be submitted within 15 days. 

DK Shivakumar recounted his experience of witnessing young people lying dead after the incident.

IANS quoted the Deputy CM as saying, "I cannot digest that our children, who deserved to live and flourish, became victims of this stampede. This unfortunate incident has caused the loss of lives. It has tarnished the prestige of Bengaluru and Karnataka. We are taking this matter very seriously, and we will investigate and rectify the shortcomings. We need to learn a lesson from this."

"None of us expected such a tragedy to happen in our state. The RCB team had informed the media that they were coming to Bengaluru. Our government had no other option. We consider this tragedy as if it happened in our own family," he added. 

"The pain, similar to that of our own family members having died in this tragedy, is overwhelming the state. This pain is unbearable. Those who died are members of our family. In this situation, we should offer condolences, not play politics. The responsibility for this tragedy cannot be placed on one or two individuals," Shivakumar continued.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WATCH</a> | Bengaluru: Karnataka DCM DK Shivakumar breaks down as he comes out to address the media for the first time after the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BengaluruStampede?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BengaluruStampede</a>. <a href="https://t.co/1GDMZOBAm4">pic.twitter.com/1GDMZOBAm4</a></p>&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1930516698198639024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

"The joy among fans, who had been waiting for 18 years, overflowed. As a result, a large number of people gathered, and the situation escalated. Yesterday at the hospital, the parents of the deceased pleaded, 'Don't conduct a post-mortem. Give us our child's body.' How can we hand over the bodies without such an examination? This would lead to legal problems tomorrow. We need a scientific report to understand the cause of these deaths," Shivakumar said.

BJP's Criticism 

Karnataka BJP President BY Vijayendra questioned who would take responsibility for the stampede. 

"... Who will take responsibility for the stampede? The tragedy could have been avoided if the state government had managed things properly. In the final match held in Ahmedabad, 1.5 lakh people gathered, and no such tragedy occurred there... Why did the state government organise the event with such haste? Why was permission given to hold the event yesterday without proper preparation? What was the necessity of celebrating in front of the Vidhana Soudha? It must be clarified whether the Deputy Chief Minister or the Chief Minister organised it," the BJP leader said. 

RCB's Statement

RCB has announced an ex gratia of Rs. 10 lakhs to the kin of 11 victims of the stampede. Additionally, a fund named 'RCB Cares' is being created to support the injured. 

(with agencies' inputs)