Tragedy at Actor Vijay's Rally: 41 Dead in Tamil Nadu Stampede as Survivor Recounts Loss of Friend

The injured man expressed that a larger venue should have been selected for the rally.

A man who attended TVK chief Vijay's rally in Tamil Nadu's Karur on Saturday, hoping to see the actor in person, was among the 41 fatalities in the tragic stampede. His companion at the rally informed NDTV that the victim's family has lost their only son, and he believed that considering the massive turnout, the venue choice was inappropriate.

The stampede occurred in Karur when an enormous crowd gathered to hear the actor-politician speak. Though Vijay was scheduled to begin his address at noon, he only arrived around 7 pm, by which time the crowd had expanded to approximately 30,000 people.

Giri, who sustained injuries in the stampede, spoke to NDTV from Karur government hospital on Monday, explaining that he had attended the rally with his childhood friend because they both wanted to see actor Vijay in person.

"We went to see actor Vijay, but I lost my friend," Giri shared.

Describing the scene, Giri mentioned there were countless people present.

"There were too many people. I did not find any shortage of water or anything, but the place was too small... My friend, who wanted to see a celebrity, has died. I knew him since we were children and we went to school on the same bus. He was a nice person and the only son in his family," he recalled.

Giri emphasized that the rally should have been organized at a larger venue.

"For such a huge actor, that location was not big enough. The rally should have been held in an open ground. I don't know what else to say," he stated, visibly emotional while showing NDTV his friend's Instagram photos.

In the first information report (FIR) regarding the stampede, police noted Vijay's delayed arrival and mentioned that his bus made multiple unplanned stops, transforming his rally into a roadshow for which no authorization had been obtained.

While the DMK has claimed TVK deliberately delayed the actor-politician's arrival to ensure a larger crowd attendance and improve the rally's appearance on camera, Vijay's party has alleged a 'conspiracy'.

"There was a conspiracy, a criminal conspiracy in the incident at Karur," the party's lawyer, Arivazhagan, told NDTV.