'After Commotion Started, Vijay Ended Speech And Left': Stampede Eyewitnesses Claim During BJP-NDA Delegation Visit

(MENAFN- Live Mint) People who were present at actor Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) rally on Saturday, September 27, narrated to an eight-member NDA-BJP leaders' delegation that visited Karur that the TVK chief arrived late and left after the commotion started.

At least 41 people died after many were injured in a stampede at a TVK rally in Tamil Nadu's Karur. As the tragedy happened, actor Vijay was seen arriving at the Trichy airport , triggering a row.

'Water bottles were thrown, local admin failed'

Eyewitnesses, who met the NDA-BJP delegation, narrated the events that led to the stampede. One eyewitness claimed that TVK leader Aadhav Arjuna had approached actor Vijay during the event, alerting him to the fact that people were fainting due to the crowd pressure.

In response, water bottles were reportedly thrown from the vehicle at the crowd. Also Read | What FIR says on TVK Karur stampede

An eyewitness told the delegation,“TVK's Aadhav Arjuna went up to Vijay and said that people are fainting. They immediately started throwing water bottles from the vehicle...Local administration failed...The road was 19 feet, and the vehicle itself was 12 feet...”

“After the commotion started, he ended the speech and left. Vijay was present for 10 minutes,” ANI quoted an eyewitness as telling the delegation.

Another eyewitness said that within just three to four minutes of Vijay beginning his speech, people began fainting from the overcrowding.

Another eyewitness added,“Within 3-4 minutes after Vijay started speaking , people started fainting. A commotion started, and then an ambulance arrived - that, too, caused a commotion. All of us started running.”

“It took one hour to clear everything...Several people who were not from here were in the crowd...Why did people push us to the ditch and not to the other side?”

Earlier, an eyewitness to the Karur stampede had said that“nothing could have been done to control the crowd” as 41 people were killed at the rally.

Nanda Kumar said,“We were there ourselves. Nothing could be done to control the crowd. He (Vijay) had said he would arrive in Karur by 11 am, and everyone was informed about it. But when he came, it was much delayed. We pray that everyone who was injured recovers fully and returns home safely. But beyond that, such incidents must be prevented from happening again.”

“It's hard to understand who is at fault. People had come expecting him to arrive on time; many were accompanied by children, were hungry, or faced difficult situations. Everyone came with the enthusiasm of wanting to see a star. This is deeply distressing.”

Kumar further underlined that "such events should be carefully planned"

Another eyewitness claimed that ambulances could not get into the area as there was not enough space.“It took a very long time to bring people out,” he said.

A relative of a victim claimed that Vijay was supposed to start the rally at 9 am, but he did not, and“because of that, there was a huge crowd.”

(With agency inputs)

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