KARUR: The death toll in the stampede at Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam’s (TVK) rally at Velusamypuram has climbed to 41, with doctors attributing most fatalities to compressive asphyxia (suffocation caused by chest compression) due to crowd crush.
According to hospital sources, of the 39 victims brought dead to the Karur Government Medical College Hospital, 35 arrived directly and four were referred from private centres. The bodies were later sent to mortuary.
Sources in the hospital revealed that several victims appeared to have collapsed within minutes of being trapped, with many showing rib and spinal fractures. They also added that the first victim to be brought in was a two-year-old boy around 8pm, and within two hours the toll had risen sharply to 33.
51 of 110 injured out of hospital
Tamil Nadu Director of Medical Education and Research R Suganthy Rajakumari, who inspected the hospital on Sunday night, said, “Our preliminary findings of the autopsy reveals most of the deaths occurred due to suffocation.” Sixteen doctors were deputed to carry out postmortems, she said.
According to Karur GH Dean R Shanthimalar, all 41 bodies have been handed over to the victims’ families after autopsy. Karur Collector M Thangavel in a press release on Monday said that of the 110 injured, 51 have fully recovered and were discharged.
Currently, 51 patients are under treatment at KGMCH, and eight in three private hospitals. According to hospital sources, among the inpatients at KGMCH, two are in the Intensive Care Unit, while others are spread across medicine (13), orthopaedics (7), and general surgery (30) wards. Two others are under treatment in Madurai.
Pulmonologist Dr Raj Tilak, an independent expert, explained that in stampedes, the immediate cause is compressive asphyxia. “When the chest is pressed and air cannot enter the lungs, oxygen supply to the brain stops.
Most people cannot survive more than two to three minutes without oxygen. For children or the elderly, it may take just 30 seconds,” he said. He added that chest fractures can also lead to collapsed lungs, while severe blows may cause bleeding around the heart.
Meanwhile, after questions were raised on social media on autopsies conducted at night, TN fact-check team, in a post on X on Monday, clarified that a 2021 Union Health Ministry circular permits postmortems after 6pm if hospitals have adequate facilities, particularly in cases involving law and order concerns. The victims include 18 women, 13 men, and 10 children.
