A mound of shoes and sandals strewn around and some pieces of what appeared to be sports apparel and merchandise were the tell-tale signs of the stampede that broke out in the immediate vicinity of the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, leading to the deaths of 11 people and injuries to 33 others.
As the celebratory mood kicked in to commemorate the first ever IPL title win by the RCB, massive crowds of young men and women, touching lakhs, gathered just outside the stadium.
Many youth managed to climb branches of huge trees and frenzied young men clung to poles and even scaled huge walls to gain entry into the stadium to catch a glimpse of their stars, all at the same time.
Nothing could deter them and crowds continued to swell and the chants of 'RCB' in the busy area brought in a carnival-like atmosphere on the streets of Bengaluru.
In a mad scramble to attend the team's IPL victory party in Bengaluru, as jubilation intensified, the crowds turned frantic and were uncontrollable, steadily leading to a stampede.
Soon, wails and shouting were heard and even before one could realise what was happening, people fell and became unconscious, who had to be rushed to nearby hospitals.
While all this was happening, many youths still chose to continue to sit on compound walls near the Saint Mark's Cathedral and not even the continuous blare of sirens of police vehicles could deter them from cheering aloud for their beloved cricket team.
Police personnel though did their best to regulate crowd in and around the stadium area, they were heavily outnumbered. Appeals from the police informing people that "stadium is full...stadium is full," and urging them to disperse fell, on deaf ears.
"I don't know what we did wrong...we had tickets," an exasperated RCB supporter wondered outside the Chinnaswamy stadium, watching what was meant to be a day of celebration become a day of mourning.
The tickets for the hastily-arranged engagement programme were sold in a jiffy, but the fans crowded all the gates 12, 13 (main gates) and 10 (club house entrance) with not enough security to control them.
The number swelled to unexpected levels around 3.30pm and it forced the police and stadium security officials to close all the gates to prevent the ticket-less from squeezing in along with the ones who had valid tickets.
"We came to watch our stars. I bought tickets for the function but was not even able to enter the stadium. Police suddenly blocked all the roads and closed all the entrances to the venue, and suddenly they started lathi-charging near the main gate," said Prashant Shetty, a post-graduate student who came along with a few of his friends.
"I don't know what we did wrong. We were invited for the function, bought tickets but in the end got beaten up and abused. Terrible day for fans like us," he added.
At around 4.30 pm many more came from the nearby Cubbon Park metro station, worsening the situation and the police had to resort to mild use of force to disperse the huge gathering.
At Gate No. 10, the situation was grimmer as women and children were shoved around forcefully, and even this reporter was pushed to a corner by a police official with a lathi and who also hurled abuses in local dialect.
Several ticket-holders had no choice but to make a retreat from the venue albeit thankful that they escaped unscathed from what became a stampede.
Even from a distance, it was disturbing to see women fainting and some others getting crushed under the feet of jostling fans.
The fan engagement function lasted close to an hour and the team went back to the hotel around 6.30 pm but the fans still remained near the stadium creating further traffic block and chaos, before slowly moving away after a tragic day.
in a mad scramble to attend the team's IPL victory party in Bengaluru
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