"We were at the scene and no one could contain the crowd at all." Witness Nanda Kumar still had a lingering fear as she recalled the stampede that occurred in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu on the evening of September 27. That night, the political rally of well-known actor Vijay turned into a A tragedy that killed 39 people.。
At about 7:45 p.m. that night, when the crowd flooded into the stage like the tide, some people were unfortunately stumbled by road barriers, which triggered a chain reaction. Nearly 30 thousand.。
The political rally, initiated by well-known actors, was a campaign for local elections early next year, but ended tragically because of a series of out-of-control management.
Details of the tragedy
The stumbling occurred at around 7:45 p.m. local time. When Vigger’s fleet appeared, the crowd began to “strike” toward the center stage. The front row was pushed forward by the back of the crowd, making people “difficult even to breathe.”
Suddenly, some people and staff present began to faint one after another. Unconfirmed claims that "the police used batons" also came out at the scene, which aggravated panic and confusion.
A witness named Suriya said the scene was crowded to "ambulances couldn't get in at all, people didn't even have space at the station, and it took a very long time to bring the wounded out."
Before the stampede happened, chaotic pictures had begun to appear. At that time, when Vijay was speaking on the stage, he suddenly interrupted his speech. When he saw that the people in the front row of the audience were unwell because of the extreme crowding, he picked up the water bottle and handed it down, and called on everyone to keep calm. But just as he calls for calm, the stampede happens.
The first problem with this rally is A serious supervisor.According to Vint Katramann, State Police Director of Tamil Nadu, the rally was initially expected to attend around 10,000 people, and according to this number, more than 500 police officers were applied for the venue and deployed.
Live photos and videos showed that the mountainous sea inside and outside the gathering site left hardly any passages or buffer space. Several witnesses described the scene at the time as "seriously overcrowded and crowded."
More fatal is the main character. Problems of LateSeveral people at the scene and the families of the victims said the rally was scheduled to begin at 12 p.m., but the protagonist Vigger did not arrive at the scene until around 7 p.m. This meant tens of thousands of enthusiastic supporters, including a large number of women and children, passively waited for more than seven hours in a crowded and lacking environment of food and water.
A family member of a victim named Zakir said: "Vige should have arrived at 9 a.m. but he didn't come because of this, the more people gathered."The long wait consumed people's patience, and the anxiety on the scene continued to accumulate, buriing the pen for subsequent stumbling events.
In this tragedy, The vulnerable groups first.At least 39 people have died, including 17 women and nine children, and another 51 have been rescued in the ICU.
Some media reports of deaths vary slightly, but all point to a high proportion of casualties among women and children.This reflects that groups with weaker self-protection tend to be more vulnerable to injury in stumbling incidents.
The rescue work faced great difficulties. The site was crowded so that even ambulances were difficult to access, and rescue workers took a very long time to get the wounded out. The wounded were sent to the Carol Medical College affiliate hospital and nearby private hospitals for treatment.
The government of Tamil Nadu has announced that it will provide assistance to the families of every victim. 1 million rubles (approximately 80,000 yuan) The injured will receive 100,000 rupees in aid.
Reactions of the parties and officials
Following the incident, Indian Prime Minister Modi expressed his mourning on social media, saying: “The unfortunate event that occurred during a political gathering in Karul, Tamil Nadu, is deeply saddened and my heart is with the family of those who have lost loved ones.”
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin held a press conference and said: "Never before in the history of our state have so many people lost their lives in an event organized by a political party, and such tragedy should never happen again in the future".
Vigger, who was taken by car to the airport to take a plane, subsequently issued a statement saying that he was "hearted and suffering words cannot express, unbearable pain and sadness."
The government of Tamil Nadu has ordered an investigation to determine the specific cause of the incident. Police have launched an investigation into the organizers of the rally.
India's large-scale gathering safety accidents are by no means isolated cases. Similar tragedies happen from time to time across India and never really seem to get enough attention.
On July 2, 2024, a serious stumbling accident occurred at a gathering site in the northern state of Hattles, India. 121 people died.Local police officer Rajesh Singh said there were only about 5,000 people allowed to host the event, but there were actually about 50,000 people gathered on the scene, with only about 40 policemen in charge ofining order.
In 2013, an attack on a temple in the central state of India killed 115 people and injured more than 100 people. At that time, about half a million Indian believers went to a temple to worship to celebrate the Day of the Lady of Durga, where pilgrims deliberately spread the rumor that the bridge was about to be broken, causing panic and stumbling.
What these accidents have in common is that The actual number of participants far exceeded the expected and site capacityAt the same time, security and control measures are seriously insufficient.
Challenges and Innovations of Safety Management of Large-scale Events
The Indian government is trying to solve this problem through technical means. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adianath has directed the state's police department to use at the 2025 Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj Artificial Intelligence TechnologyEvacuation and traffic management.
Kumbh Mela is a Hindu gathering and one of the most attended festivals in the world. Kumbh Mela in 2025 uses face recognition and artificial intelligence technology for the first time to find lost people. Rajesh Devi Vidi, the senior superintendent in charge of the application of activity technology, said that although this technology is not foolproof, the police strive to achieve "the perfect application of technology as possible".
In addition to AI technology, large rallies also use new technologies such as RFID bracelets and real-time positioning mobile apps.To prevent stumbling accidents, strategic location cameras installed on the venue can send real-time early warning messages to officials about crowds gathered and sudden mass movements.
However, the promotion of these technical means will take time, and the frequent large-scale gatherings held across India are still testing the local organizational and safety management capabilities.
As of September 29, India's New Delhi TV that the death toll had risen to 41.The Tamil Nadu government's announced 1 million rubles of compensation was difficult to compensate for the pain of losing loved ones, and the families of the victims are still struggling in grief.
Police have investigated the organizers of the rally, and Vigger’s party activity is not the first to have a security incident – six people have been killed due to security issues at the party’s founding congress in October last year.
Source of information:
Stampede at rally in southern India has killed 40 people
2025-09-28 21:02 · World Wide Web
Political rallies in India have killed 39 people
2025-09-28 14:09 · Interface news