KARUR: In the trauma care and special wards of Karur Government Medical College Hospital on the midnight of Saturday, stretchers moved in and out as nurses rushed with IV drips and relatives waited anxiously by bedsides. With 50 patients — 27 men and 23 women — admitted after the stampede during actor-politician Vijay's campaign in Veluchamipuram, the hospital has turned into the centre witnessing both battles for survival and sorrow.
For 35-year-old S Murugan, a milk vendor and TVK functionary from Vengamedu, the tragedy that claimed at least 39 lives cut deep. With fractured ribs and on oxygen support, he drifted in and out of consciousness, unable to speak. His friend, who accompanied him to the hospital, recounted what had happened.
Murugan had gone to the meeting with his mother. In the chaos, he fainted, and when he briefly regained consciousness, he could not find her and saw only her yellow bag lying nearby.
He did not know that his mother had already passed away. As doctors now monitor his condition, friends said he has been vomiting blood at intervals, still unaware of the full extent of his loss. His friends also said that the mother and son had not eaten since morning, waiting as they were for their star.
N Giriraj, son of Navaneethan of Munniyappan Koil, described how he had been waiting since 3 pm to see Vijay. "By 6.30 pm, even before the speech began, people climbed on an ice-cream cart. It collapsed and one person after another fell. I too was pushed down," he said, his voice still shaky.
Many survivors said the chaos unfolded even before Vijay's campaign vehicle arrived. Several recollected that they never got to hear his speech, as the stampede began the moment the caravan entered the dense crowd.
'God's grace that I survived'
In another corner of the ward, the youngest of the injured yelled out for relief. S Madhish, 17, from Manmangalam, had a fractured hand, swelling across his face, and torn track pants.
"When Vijay's caravan started moving, I fell. My back and head hurt all over," he said, as doctors prepared him for scans of the brain and spine. His father sat nearby, holding his hand.
G Jayanthi, 40, of Vengamedu, a single mother who came with relatives, lay with a fractured leg. Her daughter works in a textile unit and Jayanthi had gone to see Vijay's campaign out of curiosity. "I was standing near the right side of the van. Suddenly, a group of five people fell on me. I don't know what exactly happened, but I was choking. My leg gave way. It is God's grace that I survived."
Though accounts vary when it comes to the exact trigger, survivors agree on one thing: a sudden surge near the caravan set off a chain reaction of falls and panic that rippled outward, catching even those half a kilometre away.
Doctors and staff said the injured did not arrive all at once. The first wave of patients was brought in before 7 pm, while ambulances and private vehicles kept ferrying more victims until nearly 8 pm. By then, the casualty and trauma wards were crowded, with doctors scrambling to stabilise the seriously injured even as new patients kept arriving.
Velusamypuram, where the tragedy occurred, is about seven kilometres from Karur GH.
Along the route are several private hospitals. Sixty one people have been admitted to private hospitals including Akshaya, Apollo, and Amaravathi.
Their stories remain to be told.
