Four killed, 52 injured as crowd goes out of control at Rajaji Hall
Team TOI
Chennai:08.08.2018
The grim atmosphere that surrounded Rajaji Hall since early Wednesday as thousands of mourners filed past the coffin of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi turned tragic when a stampede claimed four lives and left at least 52 others injured. Separately, a man suffered a head injury after he fell from a wall on Wallajah Road when the funeral procession was passing by later.
While Shenbagavalli, 62, of MGR Nagar, and a 60-yearold yet-to-be identified man were declared dead on arrival at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Saravanan, 37, died at Madras Medical College and Durai, 45, died at the Government Superspecialty Hospital on the Omandurar Government Estate. At 10.45 am, as news of the Madras HC allowing the DMK supremo’s burial on the Marina Beach trickled in, several mourners, until then allowed in batches of 200, broke the barricades and police cordon and rushed towards the venue.
LIFE & DEATH ISSUE: Hundreds of party workers broke through the security cordon at Rajaji Hall resulting in a stampede | PAGES 2-6
All I could see was people running over me: Survivor
Thelaw-enforcers,clearly outnumbered, looked on helplessly. The crowd was also restive at not being able to get close to the former chief minister’s coffin, with the queue being blocked every time a celebrity arrived. Efforts to regulate the crowd went in vain and as many of those in front went down in a heap, police personnel resorted to a mild lathicharge to disperse the crowd and rescue those trapped under. “We can’t deal with them the way we do with the general public. Among the crowd are party cadres and some hooligans,” said a police inspector at the VVIP entrance.
As thousands rushed out in panic, many feeble cries drowned. “I was stuck in between people running, there was no gap to move. All I could see was people running over me,” said Ponnammal, a woman who managed to escape with a few minor injuries.
By 6pm, staff of the Emergency Management Research Institute (EMRI), which had stationed 15 ambulances and 13 first responder bikers outside Rajaji Hall, rushed 51people to various government hospitals. Of the injured, two suffered fractures on the leg caused by barricades falling on them.
Among those still undergoing treatment were Kulandaivelu, 62, of Nilgris; Balakrishnan, 71, of Ambattur; Thangaraj, 60, of MGR Nagar; Jayaraman, 59, of Vellore; Sathya, 50 and Latha, 45, of T Nagar; Kennedy, 55, of Puzhal and Settu, 39, of Kancheepuram.
Paramedical staff said most of those admitted to hospitals were elderly people who had collapsed due to dehydration, after standing for a long time under the hot sun. “It was a particularly hot day and many had had no food or water all day,” said a health department official.
Team TOI
Chennai:08.08.2018
The grim atmosphere that surrounded Rajaji Hall since early Wednesday as thousands of mourners filed past the coffin of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi turned tragic when a stampede claimed four lives and left at least 52 others injured. Separately, a man suffered a head injury after he fell from a wall on Wallajah Road when the funeral procession was passing by later.
While Shenbagavalli, 62, of MGR Nagar, and a 60-yearold yet-to-be identified man were declared dead on arrival at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Saravanan, 37, died at Madras Medical College and Durai, 45, died at the Government Superspecialty Hospital on the Omandurar Government Estate. At 10.45 am, as news of the Madras HC allowing the DMK supremo’s burial on the Marina Beach trickled in, several mourners, until then allowed in batches of 200, broke the barricades and police cordon and rushed towards the venue.
LIFE & DEATH ISSUE: Hundreds of party workers broke through the security cordon at Rajaji Hall resulting in a stampede | PAGES 2-6
All I could see was people running over me: Survivor
Thelaw-enforcers,clearly outnumbered, looked on helplessly. The crowd was also restive at not being able to get close to the former chief minister’s coffin, with the queue being blocked every time a celebrity arrived. Efforts to regulate the crowd went in vain and as many of those in front went down in a heap, police personnel resorted to a mild lathicharge to disperse the crowd and rescue those trapped under. “We can’t deal with them the way we do with the general public. Among the crowd are party cadres and some hooligans,” said a police inspector at the VVIP entrance.
As thousands rushed out in panic, many feeble cries drowned. “I was stuck in between people running, there was no gap to move. All I could see was people running over me,” said Ponnammal, a woman who managed to escape with a few minor injuries.
By 6pm, staff of the Emergency Management Research Institute (EMRI), which had stationed 15 ambulances and 13 first responder bikers outside Rajaji Hall, rushed 51people to various government hospitals. Of the injured, two suffered fractures on the leg caused by barricades falling on them.
Among those still undergoing treatment were Kulandaivelu, 62, of Nilgris; Balakrishnan, 71, of Ambattur; Thangaraj, 60, of MGR Nagar; Jayaraman, 59, of Vellore; Sathya, 50 and Latha, 45, of T Nagar; Kennedy, 55, of Puzhal and Settu, 39, of Kancheepuram.
Paramedical staff said most of those admitted to hospitals were elderly people who had collapsed due to dehydration, after standing for a long time under the hot sun. “It was a particularly hot day and many had had no food or water all day,” said a health department official.
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