Thiruvananthapuram: Four students, including two girls, were killed and around 50 students injured in a stampede during a music concert held at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) in Kerala's Kochi on Saturday.
The stampede took place by around 7 pm during a music concert by singer Nikhita Gandhi as part of the tech fest, 'Dhishna', organised by the School of Engineering under CUSAT at Kalamassery in Kochi.
Additional director general of police (law and order) M R Ajithkumar said that as per eyewitness account the stampede occurred after students rushed into the venue following a rain. Many students fell on the steps leading to the auditorium.
As per preliminary reports student volunteers themselves were learnt to be managing the crowd and the entry and exit was through one gate.
While CUSAT vice chancellor P G Sankaran told the media that the police was informed about the programme. Cops on the other hand said that there was no proper intimation regarding the event. Hence, there was no force deployment for crowd control.
The injured students were rushed to nearby hospitals. Two of the deceased were identified as Athul Thampi and Sara Thomas, both engineering students.
Kerala Health Minister Veena George said that two male and two female students were killed. Conditions of two are critical.
Most of the students involved were from the School of Engineering. The entry was based on a black t-shirt and college identity cards. There were also reports that students from other institutions and some locals also tried to enter the venue, which led to the chaos. The auditorium had a capacity for around 1,500. The actual numbers of students in the auditorium at the time of the incident was not known.
The tech fest was being held after a gap of three years owing to Covid. The event was scheduled from November 24 to 26. Technical shows, discussions and workshops were also being held as part of the event.
A delegation of ministers led by Industries minister P Rajeeve and Higher Education Minister R Bindu was rushing to the spot.
Meanwhile, Nikhita Gandhi said in a social media post that the incident occurred before she left for the venue.
"Heartbroken and devastated by what took place this evening in Kochi. Such an unfortunate incident took place before I could even leave for the venue for the performance. No words are possibly enough to express this profound grief. My prayers go out to the families of the students," she said in the post.
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