Many factors including crowd swelling from morning resulted in Karur tragedy, say residents

Karur (Tamil Nadu), Sep 28 (PTI) Many factors including crowd swelling from the morning could have contributed to the stampede that claimed 40 lives at actor-politician Vijay's rally here, residents who witnessed the event said.

Imagine people gathering at a specific location steadily for nearly 12 hours and not vacating the spot where they could not quench their thirst or have the luxury of even elbow space to move, they observed.

To further complicate the situation, pregnant women and young parents accompanied by their kids, too, descended at Velusamypuram since 7 am on September 27, says a resident who has been residing close to the venue for nearly six decades.

Apart from her, few others who had witnessed the stampede and police lathi charge, from close quarters, claim that a combination of factors could have led to the tragic death of 40 persons due to stampede.

“The people, mostly fans, started arriving at the venue from 7 am to 7 pm and scores of people on two-wheelers accompanied the campaign vehicle of Vijay, and they pushed the waiting crowd back to gain a foothold,” a septuagenarian woman said.

The police had to baton charge a section of the crowd to ensure Vijay’s vehicle reached the venue. “Where will the people go when there isn’t space to step aside,” she asked and added it was foolishness of some women to bring their minor kids.

“Some of the people got on our roof and a few climbed on an electric post to get a better view of Vijay. They refused to get down from the pole or leave our house,” another resident said.

Yet another resident, a man in his mid-thirties, said “many felt thirsty and they could not even move to access the water bottles. Some of the people climbed a tree and the branch crashed making them fall down.” Nothing seemed like a usual gathering for a political meeting. Tamilaga Vettri Kahagam party founder Vijay’s arrival at the venue was delayed at Namakkal where he addressed the first meeting of the day. He was expected to address the meeting here at 12 noon.

The crowd that had gathered became restless and to further complicate the situation those from the neighbouring districts started arriving after learning that Vijay would speak only in the evening, a police official said.

He took over one-and-a-half hours to cover a two km stretch from the Karur-Tiruchirappalli highway roundabout to the Karur-Erode highway. Immediately upon his arrival, the floodlights connected to a generator turned off and a woman started to search for her missing minor daughter.

Some close to Vijay’s van swooned and he threw water bottles to help revive them. He even appealed to the party men to allow a couple of ambulances to pass with the sick persons. People panicked when a stampede occurred near a generator and another near Ganapathy Bakery. A few people fell down and were trampled.

And as Vijay left the venue winding up his speech quickly, a motley crowd attempted to follow his campaign vehicle, leading to another stampede.

Some political parties criticised the TVK as lacking experience in organising political events of such magnitude, and some demanded an apology from him for the tragedy.

Former chief minister and AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami indicated that Vijay could not be faulted entirely. The police and state government should have made proper arrangements to ensure the public were safe, he said.

“People attended political rallies with a hope that the parties, police and government would ensure their safety. The police should have anticipated the crowd and taken appropriate precautionary measures,” Palaniswami told reporters.

“The venue was a narrow space with no exit. The police protection was not adequate to ensure public safety, say patients and their relatives with whom I interacted at the hospital today,” DMDK general secretary Premalatha Vijayakanth said.

The police lathi charge caused the people to panic and trample others, she told reporters. “The police should have allocated a spot that was more spacious with exit routes,” Premalatha said and wondered why some ambulances sported the TVK party flags.

“Vijay himself had raised this issue at his meeting,” she added. PTI JSP JSP ADB