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‘Shouted for help…': Survivors recount Karur stampede, say ‘expected Vijay to…’
Talking of the deadly consequences that followed the rally addressed by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president and actor Vijay in Tamil Nadu's Karur, eyewitnesses claimed that there was nothing that could have been done to control the massive crowd.
“We were there ourselves. Nothing could be done to control the crowd,” news agency ANI reported quoting an eyewitness, Nanda Kumar.
At least 39 people, including women and children, died at the stampede that broke out at Vijay's Karur rally. Several others were injured.
Several eyewitnesses added that Vijay, who was scheduled to arrive at Karur by early afternoon, reached the venue only after almost six hours.
“It's hard to understand who is at fault. People had come expecting him (Vijay) to arrive on time; many were accompanied by children, were hungry, or faced difficult situations. Everyone came with the enthusiasm of wanting to see a star. This is deeply distressing,” Kumar further added claiming that even though adequate safety measures were in place, ten to fifteen times more people showed up, which caused the tragedy.
A while after the stampede began, there was even lesser place for people to stand which hampered the movement of ambulances, delaying the rescue process, recounted another eyewitness Suriya.
A woman from Namakkal, P Sivasankari watched her neighbour collapse as the crowd surged forward. “We shouted for help, but no one could move. People fell on top of each other. We could not breathe,” HT reported earlier as she spoke.
A father, who had brought his 12-year-old daughter to see Vijay, said, “She just fainted. We thought she would be fine. But when we found her again, she was gone.”
The incident, described as a “stampede-like crush” by the district administration, occurred at Velusamypuram on the Karur–Erode highway in Tamil Nadu, where thousands had gathered for Vijay's ‘Velicham Veliyeru' ('Let There Be Light') campaign meeting. He was addressing the audience when chaos broke out, forcing him to halt his speech.
Though permissions for the rally were granted for around 30,000 participants, local reports suggested nearly 60,000 people converged on Velusamypuram from surrounding districts, many traveling on foot, tractors, and buses.
The tragedy unfolded around 8 pm when the surging crowd of over 60,000—double the police-permitted 30,000—broke past barricades as Vijay appeared on stage. Many victims were women and children who had travelled from across western Tamil Nadu to see Vijay, a Tamil cinema icon.
Even as the actor addressed the massive gathering from his campaign vehicle, he halted his speech mid-way when party workers raised alarm about people fainting. He threw water bottles from his vehicle, announced that a child had gone missing, and urged police to come forward to help before abruptly ending his address sensing the chaos.
Later, Vijay expressed grief over the tragic loss of lives after the stampede at his rally as he took to his official X handle.
Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin also announced ₹10 lakh ex gratia to the families of those dead and ₹1 lakh for those injured.
(With inputs from ANI and HT correspondents)
Source: HindustanTimes
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