During the third leg of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party president and actor Vijay’s State-wide political tour, at least 41 persons including nine children died in a stampede at a rally addressed by Mr. Vijay at Karur in Tamil Nadu on September 27, 2025 (Saturday).
The meeting, held at Velusamypuram, began at 7:20 p.m. and drew several thousand people who had been packed into congested roads since the morning, waiting to see and hear Mr. Vijay.
As the crowd, mostly youngsters, surged towards the vehicles to see the actor-turned-politician, many people who had been standing at the meeting point since 10 a.m. were forced to move to give way for Mr. Vijay’s vehicle. With very little room left to move, chaos and confusion ensued, triggering a stampede.
Since many people were fainting and sensing that the situation was getting out of control, Mr. Vijay cut his speech short and left the spot, which, by then, resembled a war zone.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin who rushed to Karur Government Hospital in a few hours announced a solatium of ₹10 lakh each to the deceased and ₹1 lakh each to the injured and ordered the constitution of one-woman commission headed by retired High Court judge Aruna Jagadeesan, to probe the incident.
Meanwhile, Mr. Vijay announced a compensation of ₹20 lakh each to the families of those who lost their lives and ₹2 lakh each to those who were injured and undergoing treatment, on behalf of TVK.
Published – September 29, 2025 04:15 pm IST
