Narrow roads, power cuts: Eyewitness account on Vijay rally stampede

Panic erupted at the Karur rally of TVK chief Vijay on Saturday, leaving 39 people, including women and children, dead and many others injured. Eyewitnesses and on-ground visuals indicate that a combination of factors, including a power outage from 7 to 7:30 pm, triggered a surge in the crowd just before Vijay’s arrival. Vinod Kumar, brother-in-law of one of the victims, said a family of four had stayed late to see Vijay, affectionately called 'Vijay Mama,' and tragically, his sister-in-law and her two children, aged 11 and 7, died on the spot after struggling to breathe and getting separated in the chaos. Postmortem reports confirmed suffocation as the cause of death.