AFP Asia

At least 11 people were killed in a stampede Wednesday as a tightly packed crowd celebrated the victory of their home cricket team in the Indian city of Bengaluru, the state’s chief minister said.Joyous cricket fans had come out to celebrate and welcome home their heroes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after they beat Punjab Kings in a roller-coaster Indian Premier League cricket final on Tuesday night.But the euphoria of the vast crowds ended in disaster, with Prime Minister Narendra calling it “absolutely heartrending”.Karnataka state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said “most of the deceased are young”, with 11 dead and 47 injured in the crush.”No one expected such a huge crowd,” he told reporters, but added that the entire police force of the city available had been deployed.”The stadium has a capacity of only 35,000 people, but 200,000-300,000 people came”.He said a victory street parade by the winning team was called off as authorities had anticipated an uncontrollable crowd.”The pain of this tragedy has even erased the joy of victory,” said Siddaramaiah, who has ordered an inquiry in the deaths.”I don’t want to defend the incident, the tragedy… our government is not going to play politics on this,” he added.”This tragedy should not have happened, we are with the victims.”- ‘Distressing’ -Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said “hundreds of thousands of people” had flocked onto the streets and that police had been “finding it very difficult.”An AFP photographer saw vast crowds as a sea of people crammed the streets and police waved sticks.Broadcasters showed police rushing away from crowds carrying young children in their arms, who had seemingly fainted.”I apologise to the people of Karnataka and Bengaluru,” Shivakumar said.”We wanted to take a procession, but the crowd was very uncontrollable… the crowd was so much.”One unattended young man was sitting in an ambulance struggling to breathe.Mallikarjun Kharge, a senior Congress party leader, said the “loss of precious lives and the injuries” was “profoundly distressing”.”The joy of victory should never come at the cost of lives,” he said in a statement.- ‘Heartfelt condolences -Organisers pressed ahead with the ceremony, with the team’s social media account posting a video of cheering crowds as the bus full of the players — including batting legend Virat Kohli — waved back.”This welcome is what pure love looks like,” the club said in a post on X, which it later deleted. But IPL chairman Arun Dhumal, speaking to NDTV, said organisers in the stadium had not been told about the stampede until later.”At the time of the celebrations inside the stadium officials there did not know what had happened… I would like to send my heartfelt condolences,” Dhumal said. Shivakumar said cricket organisers had “shortened the programme”.The tech city of Bengaluru had erupted in midnight celebrations after their team RCB, who scored 190-9, restricted Punjab to 184-7.India’s IPL mega-tournament wrapped up on Tuesday night watched by 91,000 fans packed into the stadium in Ahmedabad — and many millions more on television.Bengaluru fans celebrated wildly after their hero Kohli and RCB clinched victory for the first time in the 18 years of the IPL, their three previous finals having all ended in defeat. Deadly crowd incidents are a frequent occurrence at Indian mass events such as religious festivals due to poor crowd management and safety lapses.A stampede at India’s Kumbh Mela religious fair in January this year killed 30 people and injured several others.In July last year, 121 people were killed in northern Uttar Pradesh state during a Hindu religious gathering.

A stampede broke out Wednesday as a tightly packed crowd celebrated the victory of their home cricket team in the Indian city of Bengaluru, resulting in deaths, a senior government official said.India media reported as many as 11 people had been crushed to death, but Karnataka state’s Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said he was not able to immediately confirm the exact number who had been killed.”The tragedy and death have brought deep pain and shock”, Shivakumar said in a statement. “My condolences to the deceased. My condolences to their family.”An AFP photographer saw vast crowds as a sea of people crammed the streets and police waved sticks.Shivakumar said “hundreds of thousands of people” had flocked onto the streets.”I have spoken to the police commissioner and everyone, I will also go to the hospital later — I do not want to disturb the doctors who are taking care of the patients”, he told reporters.”The exact number cannot be told now. We appeal to the people to remain calm.”Broadcasters showed police rushing away from crowds carrying young children in their arms, who had seemingly fainted.One unattended young man was sitting in an ambulance struggling to breathe.India’s NDTV broadcaster said at least 11 people were killed, while The Times of India newspaper reported seven dead.”This is not a controllable crowd,” Shivakumar said, speaking to reporters. “The police were finding it very difficult.””I apologise to the people of Karnataka and Bengaluru,” he said. “We wanted to take a procession, but the crowd was very uncontrollable… the crowd was so much.”- ‘Heartfelt condolences -Cricket fans had come out to celebrate and welcome home their heroes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after they beat Punjab Kings in a roller-coaster Indian Premier League cricket final on Tuesday night.Organisers pressed ahead with the ceremony, with the team’s social media account posting a video of cheering crowds as the bus full of the players — including batting legend Virat Kohli — waved back.”This welcome is what pure love looks like”, the club’s social media posted on X.But IPL chairman Arun Dhumal, speaking to NDTV, said organisers in the stadium had not been told about the stampede.”At the time of the celebrations inside the stadium officials there did not know what had happened… I would like to send my heartfelt condolences”, Dhumal said. Shivakumar said cricket organisers had “shortened the programme”.”This is a very sad incident,” Rajeev Shukla, vice president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the national governing body, told India Today news outlet.”No one imagined that such a huge crowd would turn up.”Deadly crowd incidents are a frequent occurrence at Indian mass events such as religious festivals due to poor crowd management and safety lapses.In July last year, 121 people were killed in northern Uttar Pradesh state during a Hindu religious gathering.

The world’s most populous nation India will conduct a census in 2027, its first since 2011, the government said Wednesday, which will also count caste — a controversial accounting not done since the country’s independence.”It has been decided to conduct Population Census-2027 in two phases along with enumeration of castes,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.Most of the vast nation will take part in the census on March 1, 2027, but for the high-altitude Himalayan regions, the counting will take place earlier before snow sets in — on October 1, 2026.Those areas include the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as well as in Ladakh, and the contested region of Jammu and Kashmir.Caste remains a crucial determinant of one’s station in life in India, with a rigid societal chasm dividing those of higher castes — the beneficiaries of ingrained cultural privileges — from people of lower castes, who suffer entrenched discrimination.More than two-thirds of India’s 1.4 billion people are estimated to be on the lower rungs of a millennia-old social hierarchy that divides Hindus by function and social standing.The decision to include detailed caste data as part of the next census — originally due in 2021 — was approved by a government meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May.Caste data was last collected as part of the official census exercise in 1931, during British colonial rule that ended with Indian independence 16 years later. Successive governments have since resisted updating the sensitive demographic data, citing administrative complexity and fears of social unrest. A caste survey was conducted in 2011 but its results were never made public because they were purportedly inaccurate.That survey was separate from the 2011 general census, the last time India collected demographic data.

More than 200,000 Afghans have left Pakistan since the government renewed a deportation drive in April, with Iran also stepping up expulsions of Afghans.Generations of Afghans have fled to neighbouring Pakistan and Iran during decades of successive wars, seeking safety and better economic opportunities.Both governments have grown weary of large migrant populations and ordered millions to leave under the threat of arrest.Pakistan has launched a strict campaign to evict more than 800,000 Afghans who have had their residence permits cancelled, including some who were born in the country or lived there for decades.According to the interior ministry, more than 135,000 Afghans left Pakistan in April, while around 67,000 departed in May and more than 3,000 were sent back in the first two days of June.The number of returnees has slowed ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday later this week, but some Afghans were still crossing the main border points from Pakistan on Wednesday.”We left behind our orchards” and livelihoods, 21-year-old farmer Mohammad Wali told AFP near the southern Spin Boldak crossing.”But we said to ourselves, ‘If we stay, maybe one day we’ll lose our dignity,’ so it’s better to return to our homeland now.”The UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday voiced concern over a surge in Afghan families being deported from Iran, recording 15,675 crossing in May, a more than two-fold increase from the previous month.Iranian officials have ordered Afghans without documentation to leave by July 6.Nader Yarahmadi, from the Iranian interior ministry, said on state television that it would affect around four million of the more than six million Afghans who Iran says are in the country.The IOM said the influx across both borders threatens to strain Afghanistan’s already “fragile reception and reintegration systems”.It again called for “all countries to immediately suspend the forced return of Afghans, regardless of their immigration status, until safe, voluntary, and dignified return conditions are in place”.- Rise in border violence -Millions of Afghans have poured into Pakistan over the past several decades, fleeing successive wars, as well as hundreds of thousands who arrived after the return of the Taliban government in 2021.A campaign to evict them began in 2023, prompting hundreds of thousands to cross the border in a matter of weeks, fearing harassment or arrest.In total, more than one million Afghans have left Pakistan. Islamabad has labelled Afghans “terrorists and criminals”, but analysts say the expulsions are designed to pressure neighbouring Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities to control militancy in the border regions.Last year, Pakistan recorded the highest number of deaths from attacks in a decade.Pakistan’s security forces are under enormous pressure along the border with Afghanistan, battling a growing insurgency by ethnic nationalists in Balochistan in the southwest, and the Pakistani Taliban and its affiliates in the northwest.The government frequently accuses Afghan nationals of taking part in attacks and blames Kabul for allowing militants to take refuge on its soil, a charge Taliban leaders deny.Some Pakistanis have grown weary of hosting a large Afghan population as security and economic woes deepen, and the deportation campaign has widespread support.Pakistan is now threatening to lift the protection granted to the 1.3 million Afghans holding refugee cards issued by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees at the end of June. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to make his first visit to contested Kashmir since a conflict between India and Pakistan last month, inaugurating a strategic railway to the mountainous region, his office said Wednesday.The Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir is at the centre of a bitter rivalry between India and Pakistan, divided between them since independence from British rule in 1947.Modi is set to visit on Friday to open the Chenab Bridge, a 1,315-metre-long (4,314-foot-long) steel and concrete span that connects two mountains with an arch 359 metres above the river below.”The project establishes all-weather, seamless rail connectivity between the Kashmir Valley and the rest of the country,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.Modi is expected to flag off a special train.Last month, nuclear-armed India and Pakistan fought an intense four-day conflict, their worst standoff since 1999, before a ceasefire was agreed on May 10.More than 70 people were killed in missile, drone and artillery fire on both sides.The conflict was triggered by an April 22 attack on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing — a charge Islamabad denies.Rebel groups in Indian-run Kashmir have waged a 35-year-long insurgency demanding independence for the territory or its merger with Pakistan.The 272-kilometre (169-mile) Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway — with 36 tunnels and 943 bridges — has been constructed “aiming to transform regional mobility and driving socio-economic integration”, the statement added.Its dramatic centrepiece is the Chenab Bridge, which India calls the “world’s highest railway arch bridge”.While several road and pipeline bridges are higher, Guinness World Records confirmed that Chenab trumps the previous highest railway bridge, the Najiehe in China.Indian Railways calls the $24-million bridge “arguably the biggest civil engineering challenge faced by any railway project in India in recent history”.The bridge will facilitate the movement of people and goods — as well as troops — that was previously possible only via treacherous mountain roads and air.The train line could slash travel time between the town of Katra and Srinagar, the region’s key city, by half, taking around three hours.The bridge will also revolutionise logistics in Ladakh, the icy region in India bordering China.India and China, the world’s two most populous nations, are intense rivals competing for strategic influence across South Asia.Their troops clashed in 2020, killing at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers, and forces from both sides today face off across contested high-altitude borderlands.The railway begins in the garrison city of Udhampur, headquarters of the army’s northern command, and runs north to Srinagar.

Virat Kohli said it was “as much for the fans” after he finally won the IPL at his 18th attempt, with Bengaluru’s ecstatic supporters preparing to welcome home their heroes.Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Punjab Kings by six runs in a roller-coaster IPL final Tuesday in Ahmedabad in front of more than 91,000 fans, who erupted in joy when Kohli lifted the trophy at the world’s biggest cricket stadium.The 36-year-old Kohli, the only man to have played all 18 years for the same IPL team since its inaugural season in 2008, fittingly top-scored with 43 to anchor Bengaluru to victory.Kohli, who captained Bengaluru in 143 matches between 2011 and 2023, had been on the losing side in three previous IPL finals. Later Wednesday he will celebrate with his teammates at the main stadium in the southern city of Bengaluru. Police said that initial plans for an open-top bus parade would not take place in Bengaluru’s notoriously bad traffic.”I said it straight away — this title is as much for the fans as it is for us,” said Kohli. “These people have backed us relentlessly for 18 years.”We’ve had horrible seasons and great ones too, but they turned up for every game in Bengaluru.”I’ve never seen loyalty like that. That’s what made me stay.”India cricket great Sachin Tendulkar led the tributes for Kohli and Bengaluru.”Congratulations on their first-ever IPL title. Fitting that jersey no. 18 lifts the trophy in the 18th edition,” Tendulkar posted on X.Bengaluru head coach Andy Flower said: “Virat in his 18th year of competing in the IPL, I think that makes it really special for everyone involved. “I am really happy for him and really proud of the way that he’s driven the side forward.”- ‘Monkey off the back’ -The tech city of Bengaluru erupted in midnight celebrations after RCB, who scored 190-9, restricted Punjab to 184-7.Thousands of fans wore Kohli’s number 18 shirt and danced in the streets as fireworks lit up the sky.”It’s not an easy tournament to win,” Punjab head coach Ricky Ponting said. “You have to think long and hard about that, think how many good teams they have had over the years. “You can see what it meant to (Kohli), his wife and all the RCB fans to finally get the monkey off the back and win an IPL title.”Former Australia batsman Matthew Hayden said on broadcaster JioHotstar: “The IPL 2025 will be forever etched in the annals of cricket  — not just for Virat Kohli, but for the RCB fans who stood by them through thick and thin.”It shows how consistency and belief can finally lead to a title. Over the past five years they’ve always been close, and now they’ve crossed the line.”  

Virat Kohli and his Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the IPL for the first time with a thrilling six-run triumph over Punjab Kings in the final in Ahmedabad.AFP Sport highlights five talking points from the 18th edition of the tournament:- Kohli finally champion -Two-time World Cup winner Kohli had done it all in an incredible career but an IPL crown eluded the batting great until Tuesday.He cried, laughed and then lifted the glittering gold trophy for his first IPL title — in his 18th year in the league and with the number 18 on his back.Kohli top-scored with 43 in his team’s 190-9 and the crowd of 91,000 erupted when victory was secured.Affectionately called “King Kohli”, he was again a key player for Bengaluru this season with 657 runs, including eight half-centuries, in 15 innings.An emotional Kohli, 36, said he gave his “youth and prime” for this moment.- Iyer leads by example -Shreyas Iyer led from the front to help Punjab Kings end the league stage top of the 10-team table and then played a major role in getting them to their second IPL final.The top-order batsman fully justified the faith of his team and head coach Ricky Ponting, who broke the bank for him at auction with a bid of $3.17 million.Iyer amassed 604 runs, playing key knocks including a sensational 87 not out in the win over Mumbai Indians to make the final.Iyer missed out on a Test spot for India’s tour of England but Ponting was all praise for his captain.”He has grown as a person, as a player and a leader,” said the Australian.- Teen makes world headlines -Rajasthan Royals’ 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi catapulted himself into the world cricket spotlight by belting his first ball fearlessly for six on his IPL debut.The youngest player ever to grace the IPL made headlines with 34 off 20 balls against Lucknow Super Giants, but it was just a taste of what was to come.Nine days later, Suryavanshi smashed the Gujarat Titans bowlers to all parts as he scored the second fastest hundred in tournament history.The teenager brought up his century off 35 balls with 11 sixes and seven fours to stand behind only West Indies great Chris Gayle, who took 30 balls to make a ton in 2013.The staggering power-hitting of left-hander Suryavanshi, who cost $130,500 as a 13-year-old at November’s auction, enabled Rajasthan to chase down their 210 target with more than four overs to spare.He rounded off a remarkable debut season with 57 against Chennai Super Kings in his final outing.- Record buy Pant flops -Lucknow splashed a record $3.21 million to secure Rishabh Pant as captain, but the India wicketkeeper-batsman appeared to buckle under the weight of his price tag.The usually swashbuckling ball striker failed to fire or inspire as Lucknow were eliminated from the playoff race with two matches to play.He belatedly found his touch in Lucknow’s final match, scoring 118 off 61 balls in another losing cause against Bengaluru.The knock raised his season average to an ordinary 24.45 from an abject 13.72 going into the match, and barely disguised his poor value for money after a return of 269 runs from 13 innings.- War stops play -The IPL was suspended on May 9, a day after the Punjab Kings-Delhi Capitals match in Dharamsala was abandoned while nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan exchanged heavy fire across their border.Players left the field and crowds were hurried out of the ground as air raid warnings sounded in the city less than 200 kilometres (125 miles) from Jammu, where explosions had been reported hours earlier.Players and officials had to board a train to escape to New Delhi because local airspace had been closed.A ceasefire allowed a resumption on May 17, but Australia and Delhi’s Mitchell Starc, who had been caught up in the Dharamsala drama, decided not to return. The schedule was also thrown off, pushing back the final by nine days to June 3.

Batting great Virat Kohli  fulfilled an 18-year dream of winning an IPL title with Royal Challengers Bengaluru after they beat Punjab Kings by six runs in Tuesday’s final in Ahmedabad.Kohli’s 43 from 35 balls at the top of the order set up Bengaluru for an imposing total of 190-9 which was one big blow too many for a Punjab side that battled until the end, finishing on 184-7.More than 91,000 fans packed into the 132,000-capacity stadium, a sea of Bengaluru’s red and Kohli’s jersey number 18 dominating the stands as chants of “Kohli, Kohli” rang out.They celebrated noisily when Kohli and RCB clinched victory for the first time in the 18 years of the IPL, their three previous finals having all ended in defeat. The 36-year-old Kohli, one of India’s all-time greats in all formats of the game, collapsed on the ground after the win and then got up to be hugged by his teammates as the crowd celebrated their hero.”This win is as much for the fans as it is for the team, it’s been 18 long years,” said Kohli.”I’ve given this team my youth, my prime, my experience. I gave it everything I have. “I never thought this day would come. I was overcome with emotion as soon as the last ball was bowled.”I have stayed loyal to this team, no matter what. My heart is with Bangalore, my soul is with Bangalore and this is the team I’ll play for till the last day I play the IPL.”Punjab put up a feisty response to the Bengaluru total but faltered in their chase after left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya took 2-17 from his four overs.Shashank Singh hit a valiant 61 not out and finished with three sixes and a four off Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood who defended 29 runs in the final over.Hazlewood, who took 3-21 against Punjab in last week’s qualifier win after recovering from a shoulder injury, struck first to send back left-handed Priyansh Arya for 24 with Phil Salt taking a stunning catch at the ropes.Impact substitute Prabhsimran Singh was the next to go off Pandya but the Bengaluru crowd went wild when Romario Shepherd had skipper Shreyas Iyer caught behind for one.- ‘King Kohli’ -Pandya stuck again to cut short Australian wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis’ stay on 39 and Bengaluru seized momentum and Shashank’s late blitz was not enough.”I am very proud of each and every individual who has participated in this team,” said Iyer.”There are a lot of youngsters who are playing their first season, they’ve shown a lot of fearlessness. We wouldn’t be here without them. Kudos to them.”Bengaluru had the perfect start as ‘King Kohli’ dug in. Far from his fluent best, he only struck three fours during his innings but in the end it turned out to be key.He lost opening partner Salt for 16 when New Zealand quick Kyle Jamieson struck in his first over to have the England batter caught in the deep off Iyer.Kohli, who was his team’s best batter this season with 657 runs including eight half-centuries, anchored the innings, sharing important partnerships with Mayank Agarwal, who made 24, and then skipper Rajat Patidar, who hit 26.But Punjab kept chipping away with wickets as leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal got Agarwal and Jamieson trapped the captain lbw.Kohli’s vigil ended when he mistimed a rising delivery from Afghanistan pace bowler Azmatullah Omarzai for a caught and bowled, the disappointment etched across his face mirrored by his fans.Jamieson took his third wicket to cut short Liam Livingstone’s rampant 25 off 15 balls.Wickets kept tumbling as wicketkeeper-batsman Jitesh Sharma fell for a 10-ball 24 and Romario Shepherd for 17 off nine balls.Left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh took three wickets including Shepherd in the 20th over and gave away just three runs.The 18th edition of the world’s richest cricket league ended nine days late due to a pause caused by the military conflict between India and Pakistan.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru posted 190-9 against Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League final on Tuesday after opening batsman Virat Kohli topscored with 43.Both the teams are hunting for their first title in the T20 tournament and thousands of Kohli fans filled the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad, anticipating an IPL crown for their star batter.The 132,000-capacity stadium was nearly packed with a sea of Bengaluru’s red and Kohli’s jersey number 18 dominating the stands as chants of “Kohli, Kohli” rang out.Punjab skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and invited Bengaluru to bat first with the two teams unchanged from their previous victories.Known as “King Kohli” for his prolific run-scoring, the opener was not at his best in the knock, which came in 35 balls and included just three fours.He lost opening partner Phil Salt for 16 when New Zealand quick Kyle Jamieson struck in his first over to send the England batter out in the deep off a good catch by Iyer.Kohli attempted to anchor the innings and take the attack to the opposition with Mayank Agarwal, who made 24, and then skipper Rajat Patidar, who hit 26.But Punjab kept coming back with wickets as leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal got Agarwal and Jamieson trapped the captain lbw.Kohli hung around for a bit but mistimed a rising delivery from Afghanistan pace bowler Azmatullah Omarzai for a caught and bowled. He looked nearly as disappointed as his fans.Jamieson took his third wicket to cut short Liam Livingstone’s knock of 25 off 15 balls.Wickets kept tumbling as wicketkeeper-batsman Jitesh Sharma fell for a 10-ball 24 and Romario Shepherd for 17 off nine balls.Left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh took three wickets including Shepherd in the 20th over and gave away just three runs.Bengaluru had defeated Punjab in the first playoff to book their fourth final. Punjab beat five-time champions Mumbai Indians in the last playoff to reach their second final and need 191 to win their first title.The 18th edition of the world’s richest cricket league is ending nine days late due to a pause because of the military conflict between India and Pakistan.

Nepal celebrated on Tuesday 75 years since the first ascent of Mount Annapurna, the 10th highest peak in the world, led by French climber Maurice Herzog.Herzog reached the 8,091-metre (26,545-foot) summit with his compatriot Louis Lachenal and Nepali guide Sonam Walung Sherpa, on June 3, 1950 without oxygen — causing a sensation around the world.It was also the first successful ascent of any mountain above 8,000 metres.About 200 people gathered at the base camp of Annapurna to commemorate the anniversary on Tuesday.They clapped as golden statues of all three climbers were unveiled and placed traditional scarves around their necks. “This is a historic event”, Him Bahadur Gurung, a local official of Annapurna Rural Municipality told AFP.”Maurice made Nepal renowned to the world by climbing Annapurna, at a time when people didn’t know… it could be an adventure”. Dozens also took part in a 42.5km (26.4 miles) marathon — downhill — from Annapurna Base camp.”We are thankful to Herzog for opening doors for tourists here who have helped develop our village,” said Radha Gurung, 40, a local resident.Herzog described his arrival at the summit as the most exquisite moment of his life.Annapurna is a dangerous and difficult climb, and the avalanche-prone Himalayan peak has a higher death rate than Everest.Since then, over 400 people have reached the top of Annapurna.On his return to France, Herzog was feted like a film star.Three years after their climb, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary stepped onto the top of Everest for the first time.Herzog died in France in 2012 aged 93.