RCB's IPL win: When joy turned to horror for Bengaluru fans

When Shamili left her home in India's Bengaluru city on Wednesday, it wasn't to see her favourite cricket team - she isn't even a fan of the game.

But the buzz around the Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB's) Indian Premier League victory parade - the home team won the tournament for the first time - had swept through the city like wildfire.

Wearing an RCB jersey with "18 Virat" on the back - a nod to Virat Kohli, the city's favourite cricket icon - Shamili joined her sister and friends near the Chinnaswamy Stadium, looking forward to celebrations.

What she didn't expect was to get caught in a terrifying crush.

The victory parade turned deadly when surging crowds - far beyond what authorities expected - led to a horrific crush that killed 11 people and injured dozens more.

Survivors like Shamili are now grappling with trauma, pain and a sense of disbelief after the celebration spiralled into catastrophe.

"I kept saying, 'let's go, let's go' - the crowd was getting out of control," Shamili recalled, sitting on a bed at the government-run Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital. "The next thing I knew, I was on the ground. People were walking over me. I thought I was going to die."

She is not alone. Many who had come just to soak in the atmosphere - fans, families, curious onlookers - found themselves caught in a tide of bodies as crowds swelled beyond control.

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