A victory rally of Royal Challenge Bengaluru IPL team near Vidhana Soudha turned tragic on June 4, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Sudhakara Jain
From religious festivals to sporting celebrations, fan frenzy to political campaigns, the year 2025 witnessed a number of crowd crush and stampedes, leading to over 100 deaths this year. While what triggered these stampedes could vary, poor crowd management and a lack of proper public infrastructure cannot be ignored. Almost 80% of stampedes in India occur at religious gatherings or pilgrimages. Here are some of the major stampedes that made headlines this year.
January 8, 2025: Tirupati
A stampede-like situation occurred at Vishnu Nivasam during the distribution of Tirumala Srivari Vaikuntha Dwara Darshan tokens, in Tirupati.
| Photo Credit:
ANI
Casualties: Six people killed, over 20 critically injured
Cause: People jostled for tickets for the Vaikunta Ekadasi festival at the Tirumala Venkateshwara temple
January 29: Maha Kumbh
Maha Kumbh Mela”, or the Great Pitcher Festival, as Belongings of stampede victims lie on the ground, at Maha Kumbh Mela, a day after a deadly stampede, in Prayagraj.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
Casualties: Over thirty people killed, 60 more injured
Cause: Barricades on Akhara Marg collapsed under the pressure of lakhs of pilgrims, causing devotees waiting for a holy dip at Sangam to be trampled
February 15: New Delhi railway station
Heavy rush of passengers to catch a train for Mahakumbh, at the New Delhi railway station on Feb. 15, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Casualties: At least 18 people killed, and over a dozen injured
Cause: The stampede was preceded by a swell in the crowd of passengers waiting to board trains for Prayagraj, to take part in the Maha Kumbh
May 3: Goa
Clothes, footwears and canes which were carried by devotees seen on the spot where stampede occurred at Lairai Devi Temple in Shirgao, Goa.
| Photo Credit:
Emmanual Yogini
Casualties: At least seven people killed, 80 people injured
Cause: Lakhs of devotees thronged to participate in the annual ‘Lairai Jatra’ at Shree Lairai Devi Temple
June 4: Bengaluru
Scene at one of the gates of the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium after RCB fans tried to gain forcible entry during the IPL-18 victory celebration in Bengaluru on June 4, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
MURALI KUMAR K
Casualties: 11 dead and over 50 injured
Cause: A victory celebration of Royal Challengers Bengaluru winning their maiden IPL trophy at the Chinnaswamy Stadium turned tragic as more than 2.5 lakh fans gethered at a place with a seating capacity of around 32,000, triggering a chaotic stampede at the gates.
September 27: Karur
Actor-turned-politician Vijay’s rally where over 40 people died due to stampede.
| Photo Credit:
MOORTHY M
Casualties: 41 people killed, over 100 injured
Cause: Thousands gathered in Karur, Tamil Nadu, for actor-turned-politician Vijay’s rally, but his delayed arrival caused the swelling crowd to surge toward his vehicle, triggering a stampede
November 1: Srikakulam
The belongings of the devotees lie strewn on the stairs of the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple where a stampede left nine devotees dead, in Kasibugga town of Srikakulam district.
| Photo Credit:
RAJU V
Casualties: Nine people killed, at least 15 injured
Cause: Over 20,000 people thronged the Kashibugga Venkateshwara temple for darshan on Ekadashi, even though it usually sees only around 2,000 devotees.
Published – December 22, 2025 03:04 pm IST
