Karur (Tamil Nadu): A campaign rally by Tamil actor-turned-politician Vijay’s party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), ended in tragedy on Saturday evening when a stampede claimed 39 lives and left 83 people injured in Karur district.

State Health Minister MA Subramanian confirmed that the dead included 16 women, 15 men, and eight children. Most casualties occurred after a sudden crowd surge near the barricades as people rushed forward to see Vijay during his address.

Senior police officials said the turnout was far beyond expectations. “Normally, a crowd of 15,000–20,000 is expected, but here it went much higher. Initial estimates suggest over 60,000 people attended,” said ADGP Davidson Devasirvatham, who visited the site.

He also indicated that Vijay’s delayed arrival at the venue contributed to restlessness in the crowd, triggering the deadly crush.

Tamil Nadu DGP G Venkataraman on Sunday said that permission (for the meeting) was sought for between 3 pm and 10 pm. "The TVK Twitter account said he will come at 12, and the crowd started coming in from 11 am. He came at 7.40 pm. The people lacked sufficient food and water under the hot sun," he added. 

 

Asked if there was any "security lapse" that led to the tragic incident, the ADGP  pointed out that the government has announced a Commission of Inquiry to probe the cause.

The organisers were clearly told about the crowd and related issues, and the police are only "extra help," and there cannot have been an added police presence anticipating such a surge in crowd.

Venkataraman said that while organisers had estimated a turnout of around 10,000, nearly 27,000 people gathered at the venue to catch a glimpse of the actor.He indicated police protection was given anticipating about 20,000.

The Tamil Nadu government announced an ex gratia of ₹10 lakh for each of the victims’ families and constituted an inquiry commission. A magisterial probe has also been ordered to assess crowd-control lapses.

“We will fix responsibility once video evidence and testimonies are studied. Failures are evident,” a senior official said.

Medical officials in Karur confirmed that postmortems will be completed before noon today, with government support extended for food, accommodation, and transport of bodies.

The tragedy has sparked widespread grief, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Droupadi Murmu, Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, and Chief Ministers MK Stalin and Arvind Kejriwal among leaders offering condolences.

Chief Minister Stalin is expected to visit Karur later today to review relief measures.