Karur ground report: Vijay’s delayed arrival, poor planning blamed for stampede that killed 39

Karur: Vijay’s late arrival at the venue, inadequate planning by his party Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), and the lack of sufficient police personnel to control the unruly crowd on a main road in Karur are some of the reasons that led to the stampede that killed 39 people.

Residents of Veluswamy Nagar in Karur, where over 25,000 people had gathered to catch a glimpse of Vijay, said the location was not suitable for a political rally. Eyewitnesses told DH that chaos broke out around 7.10 pm when Vijay’s arrival on the bypass road was announced.

People who had been waiting patiently began jostling with each other to move forward towards the spot where Vijay’s specially designed bus was to halt. Suspension of power supply, done to prevent a catastrophe since unruly fans often climb electricity poles, added to the confusion.

Vijay was scheduled to arrive at 4 pm but only reached the venue at 7 pm, leading to swelling crowds. Locals said the tragedy could have been prevented if Vijay had adhered to the schedule.

Sudarshan, who witnessed the mayhem from a balcony, said people pushed each other aside to make way for an ambulance trying to move through the crowd, which triggered the stampede.

“Some 15 young people were on top of a tree, and when people ran around to give way for the ambulance, a branch broke. As a result, a hoarding erected by fans collapsed, and people fell onto the ground,” he told DH.

This was the same venue where Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami had held a roadshow earlier in the week without incident. Sudarshan alleged that police presence on Saturday was inadequate, with barely 300 personnel deployed to handle a crowd of 25,000.

“First of all, they should not have allowed Vijay to campaign here. The crowd wasn’t political; people were there only to see Vijay. There were women and children, and they bore the maximum brunt,” he added.

Poornima, who lives on the first floor of a building near the venue, said she could barely breathe inside her home. “People entered balconies of several houses to see Vijay. There was no power, and we couldn’t breathe properly inside. There was suffocation everywhere,” she said.

It was residents like Sudarshan and Poornima who rescued many people from the stampede and provided them with water. “We brought water cans from our homes and gave them to people. Children were gasping for breath,” Poornima added.

Top government officials, however, blamed the event organisers, saying permission had been sought for 10,000 people but nearly 25,000 were mobilised.

“The political party concerned didn’t make adequate arrangements such as drinking water. They also failed to follow conditions laid down by the police. If they had expected more people, they should have informed us so that we could arrange additional security,” an official told DH.

The official added that organisers knew crowds in Karur would be as high as in Namakkal but failed to take precautions. “Namakkal was touch and go. His earlier tours were also the same. The organisers initially sought permission for a much narrower location, but the police gave them a better site,” the official added.