"Vijay Ignored People's Cry": Eyewitness' Claim Over TVK Rally Stampede

A power outage, a sudden surge of crowd, and a narrow space contributed to the stampede during actor-politician and TVK chief Vijay's rally in Tamil Nadu's Karur that left 39 people dead, eyewitnesses told NDTV. The tragic incident took place on Saturday evening when Vijay arrived seven hours late to the rally, where scores of people were waiting to catch his glimpse.

The crowd had swelled till Vijay arrived around 7 pm, and he brought another crowd surge with his campaign bus, an eyewitness said. During this time, many people climbed on trees, roofs, and power lines, due to which authorities had to cut electrical lines to avoid cases of electrocution, he said.

According to him, when Vijay arrived, people started pushing each other and threw slippers at the campaign bus to get Vijay's attention. "Some of the people who had climbed trees and power lines fell into drains and got stuck. Some people fainted, too. Ambulances rushed to help those who were stuck, but they could not go through the huge crowd," the eyewitness said.

Another eyewitness claimed that the police then resorted to a lathi charge to disperse the crowd.

"If Vijay had just waved his hands while on his way, the crowd would not have followed him. People were screaming for help. Vijay ignored their cries," he said.

Hours after the deadly stampede, Vijay condoled the deaths and said that his "heart is shattered". "I am writhing in unbearable, indescribable pain and sorrow that words cannot express. I extend my deepest condolences and sympathies to the families of my dear brothers and sisters who lost their lives in Karur. I pray for the swift recovery of those receiving treatment in the hospital," he said in a statement.

He also announced a compensation of Rs 20 lakh for the families of each of the 39 people killed in the stampede. The TVK chief added that his party will also give Rs 2 lakh each to the nearly 100 injured in the tragedy.

A day after the incident, two top leaders of the TVK, including his close aide N Anand, were charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Besides Mr Anand, TVK joint general secretary CT Nirmal Kumar, the party's Karur West district secretary Mathiyazhagan, and three others have been named in the police case.

The DMK-led state government has slammed the actor-politician for allegedly violating the security guidelines. Sources in the state government have said the organisers did not make proper arrangements for drinking water and food, which led to people in the crowd fainting. They also claimed that when Vijay was addressing the crowd, some people collapsed, but the speech continued, and ambulances were not allowed into the venue. Vijay then left for Trichy airport after the rally and flew to Chennai by a private flight, they said.