At least 36 dead and more than 50 injured in stampede at Vijay rally in India | India
At least 36 people were killed and more than 50 injured in a stampede at a rally for a popular actor and politician in India.
Health Minister Ma Subramanian, Southern India’s Tamil Nadu province, said Associated Press that the victims died late on Saturday, including eight children, when they came to the hospital.
He added that the wounded were in a stable state.
Tamil Nadu’s head Minister MK Stalin said that the rally was handled by Tamil player Vijay who carried out a campaign for the election.
Vijay, one of the most banknote actors of Tamil cinema for thirty years, has attracted large crowds since the launch of its political party Tamilaga Kazhagam in 2024, aiming at the Bharatoye Party of the State ruling party DMK and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He campaigns before the state elections to be held at the beginning of 2026.
In the 51 -year -old X, the tragedy said, “My heart is shattered”: orum I expand my deepest condolences and sympathies to my beloved brothers who lost their lives in Karur. ”
The videos of the local media show thousands of people surrounding a large campaign vehicle that sees Vijay’s standing and talking.
During the rally, the visuals showed that Vijay threw water bottles from the top of the vehicle to fainting supporters and asked for police help when the crowd could not be controlled.
Modi said the incident was “deep sad”.
Social media said in a statement, “My thoughts with families who lost their loved ones. I wish them strength in this difficult time,” he said.
When large crowds are collected, stamps are relatively common in India. In January, during the world’s largest religious meeting, Maha Kumbh Kumbh Mela Festival, at least 30 people were killed while running to bathe in a holy river in tens of thousands of Hindu.
In July last year, during the Hindu religious meeting, 121 people died in North Uttar Pradesh.
And 11 fans were crushed in Bengaluru in Bengaluru during the celebrations of the local team’s first Indian Premier League title.
In addition, Vijay’s rallies were not the subject of security concerns for the first time. When it was started in October last year, at least six deaths were reported by the media after the first meeting of his political party.
Despite the restrictions imposed by the police, including convoy size and space changes, the pure scale of public opinion participation has been overly overwhelmed by the local infrastructure.
