KARUR: A blanket of silence and grief has fallen over Emur, a small village in Karur district, from where 15 villagers had set out together on a tempo van to Velusamypuram on Saturday, eager to witness Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam president Vijay’s public address. Only 10 made it back.
Among those who did not return was Chandra (39), a mother of two teenage boys. Her husband Selvaraj (43) recalled his desperate attempts to reach her, only for his calls to go unanswered. Hours later, officials from the Karur Government Hospital contacted him, asking to identify Chandra’s body. “Our family has lost its pillar,” he told TNIE. Their younger son never even got to see his mother one last time, he added.
Another family from Emur, lost their 10-year-old boy. Sharmila had taken her son Prithvik along with her to the rally. During the chaos of the evening, she had fainted and by the time she came to, her son was gone forever.
‘Thought my son would be happy to see Vijay, but never imagined I’d return without him’
Outside their home stands Prithvik’s tiny bicycle, never to be ridden again, a heartbreaking reminder of his absence.
For Sakthivel, another villager, the loss was two-fold. Both his wife Priyadharshini (35) and daughter Dharanika (14) perished in the stampede. “I had asked my wife to return because it was too crowded, but the network was down. She had sent me a voice message saying it was impossible to move. Before it could reach me, both of them were gone,” he said.
The last person from Emur who was lost to the stampede was 60-year-old Arukkani, who had attended the rally with some relatives.
Among many other who suffered heavy losses on Saturday evening, is Anandhajothi from Sivasakthi Nagar in Karur, who lost his wife Hemalatha (35) and two daughters, Sai Lakshana (8) and Sai Jeeva (4). He recalled collapsing when an ambulance forced its way through the crowd, and people falling on top of him.
By the time he came to, he could only find his eldest daughter, who was alive but unconscious. Hoping his wife and other child were safe, he rushed Sai Lakshana to the hospital only for doctors to declare her dead on arrival. Later, at the hospital, he was informed that Hemalatha and Sai Jeeva were also dead. “I have lost everything,” he said.
Two-year-old Dhuru Vishnu, a resident of Velusamypuram, is among the youngest victims of the stampede. Draped in a TVK-coloured shawl, he had accompanied his aunt Lilly and her two children to witness Vijay’s rally. While Lilly and her children suffered injuries, little Dhuru Vishnu was crushed in the crowd.
His body was cremated at Balamapuram on Sunday. The tragedy has shattered his mother Madheshwari, a woman with speech and hearing impairments. Relatives said she sat by her son’s photograph, crying inconsolably. “I took Vishnu along with me thinking he would get to see Vijay and be happy. I never imagined I would return without him,” sobbed Lilly.
Survivors recalled the terror and helplessness when the crowd surged and suffocation set in.
“Starting around 5.30 pm, the crowd became restless. There was no space to return. When Vijay arrived, more people rushed into the crowd. One ambulance kept making U-turns inside the crowd, worsening the situation. People fell on vehicles and were crushed. We tried calling our families, but there was no network,” said Madhiyalagan (29) of Velusamypuram, under treatment for injuries.
A milk vendor from Vengamedu, S Murugan’s predicament can only be termed cruel. Currently hospitalised with fractured ribs, the 35-year-old is still unaware his mother died in the stampede — her yellow bag being the only trace of her he found beside him when he regained consciousness.
Eyewitnesses also spoke of a complete absence of timely police intervention. Subashini (25), another survivor, said she fell down with three others near police personnel. “But they did not help us,” she said.
Also among the injured was Kavya (17), a Class 10 student. “Even before Vijay reached, the venue was overcrowded. People started falling on me. I fell and got hurt,” she said. Bharathi (19), another young girl under treatment at the Karur Government Hospital, had lost her sister in the chaos.
Many survivors recalled the jostling had begun way before the actor-politician even reached the venue, turning what was meant to be a night of political outreach and fanfare, into one of shocked silence and grief for numerous families.
(With inputs from Pearson Lenekar S R @ Karur)