Indian police arrest four people for cricket fans stampede
Police in India's tech capital of Bengaluru have arrested four people, including an official of a top cricket franchise, in connection with a stampede during a trophy celebration that killed 11 people and injured 47, media reported.
Four people, three from an event management company and one official from the Royal Challengers Bengaluru cricket team, whose victory in the Indian Premier League this week led to fan frenzy, were arrested early on Friday morning, media said.
Spokespersons for the team did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
On Wednesday, Bengaluru were celebrating their win the previous day over Punjab Kings in the final of the IPL's 18th edition, the world's richest T20 cricket league. The team had given away free passes for the celebration at a stadium in the city but said that numbers would be limited.
Thousands of people gathered outside the stadium, and fans without passes tried push through the gates, leading to a stampede.
The franchise said later the incident was 'unfortunate' and pledged one million Indian rupees to each family of the 11 fans who died on Wednesday.
Stampedes occur frequently in India, mainly at religious events, but it was the first time in 45 years that fans had died in a crush at a sporting event, media said.
India's head cricket coach Gautam Gambhir said on Thursday he did not support such roadshows and celebrations.
'Celebration is important. But more important than that is the life of any person. So, if we are not prepared or if we can't handle the crowd in that way, then we might as well not have these roadshows,' Gambhir told reporters.
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