Overcrowded rally of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam chief and actor Vijay, in Karur district, Tamil Nadu, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025.
Credit: PTI Photo
Chennai: Tragedy struck actor-politician Vijay’s overcrowded public rally in Karur on Saturday evening, with at least 38 people, including 16 women and six children, losing their lives after they collapsed at the venue due to a stampede. The death toll is likely to rise further as about 58 people are being treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Karur government hospital, and a few others have been rushed to private hospitals.
As the crowd jostled with each other to catch a glimpse of their favourite star, chaos broke out at the venue — Light House roundtana — as Vijay started speaking from atop a specially designed bus for his election campaign. Eyewitnesses said several people, especially women and children, began fainting due to overcrowding, even as siren sounds of ambulances were heard from about 7.30 pm.
“Most of the victims were declared dead on arrival at the Karur hospital,” Health Minister Ma Subramanian said. The likely cause of death is suffocation, as people waited for over four hours for Vijay to arrive from neighbouring Namakkal district and moved in one direction when his bus arrived at the venue.
A top source in the government told DH that the death toll was 38 at 11.30 pm and feared that it could go up further. Karur DMK MLA and former minister V Senthil Balaji said 58 people who attended the rally are currently receiving treatment.
Vijay didn’t visit the hospital or meet the injured and instead chose to fly back to Chennai. He posted a terse statement on his X page, four hours after the tragedy, to say that his “heart is shattered.”
“I am writhing in pain and sorrow that cannot be described in words,” Vijay, who avoided reporters at the Tiruchirapalli airport, added.
President Draupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are among those who condoled the loss of lives.
Chief Minister M K Stalin, who is rushing to Tiruchirapalli in a chartered flight to reach Karur by road in the wee hours of Sunday to meet relatives of the victims, announced a solatium of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the dead and Rs 1 lakh each to the injured.
Stalin also held a high-level meeting with Chief Secretary N Muruganandam and senior officials to take stock of the situation emerging from the stampede.
The loss of lives raised questions over the preparedness of the organisers and the district police in providing adequate security for the rally — Vijay’s rallies in the past two Saturdays have been drawing huge crowds. Sources said police did contact Vijay’s team at around 6 pm and asked to reach the venue as early as possible since the crowd was uncontrollable.
While government sources blamed the organisers, saying they sought permission for the rally by putting the expected crowds at 10,000 only, Vijay’s supporters pinned the blame on the police for not providing enough protection for the expected crowds.
Heart-rending scenes were witnessed at the Karur government hospital, with wails of women being heard after losing their loved ones. Children had also accompanied women to the public rally. Sources told DH that the crowd at the Karur rally could easily be over 50,000 people, and one could only see human heads to the extent one’s eyes could stretch.
Eyewitnesses said power shut down during Vijay’s speech, and his voice not being audible due to a faulty microphone were some of the reasons for the stampede. “We all were waiting for Vijay. The power went off, and since he was speaking through a faulty microphone, we all moved to the front to listen to him. That is also one of the reasons for the stampede,” Sunitha, a resident of Karur, said.
The tragedy occurred despite the police imposing over 20 conditions on the organisers as huge crowds have been thronging Vijay’s public rallies.
Moving swiftly, the state government rushed Subramanian from Chennai and School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi from Tiruchirapalli to Karur to monitor the situation. Stalin also ordered Collectors from neighbouring Tiruchirapalli and Namakkal to rush to Karur to help the district administration provide help to the injured.
ADGP (Law and Order) Davidson Devaasirvatham said about 400 more policemen are being rushed to Karur to handle the situation. “We already have about 500 people,” he said.