36 killed, several critical in crush at Vijay's rally in TN

The victims include 16 women and six children as more than 60k gathered for the rally in Karur town

- KA Shaji

Vijay addressing the gathering of thousands in Karur before the stampede broke out on Saturday.

(ANI)

At least 36 people, including six children and 16 women, died and dozens more were critically injured in a stampede at actor Vijay's political rally in Tamil Nadu's Karur on Saturday evening, as a crowd double the permitted size broke through barricades in sweltering heat.

State health minister Ma Subramanian confirmed the number of fatalities outside the Karur district government hospital, where most victims were brought dead. More than 50 others sustained severe injuries in the crush at Velusamypuram on the Karur-Erode highway.

"Most deaths were mainly because of suffocation," a doctor at Karur district hospital said, as medical facilities across the district were overwhelmed with hundreds of casualties rushed to both government and private hospitals.

The tragedy unfolded around 8PM when the surging crowd of over 60,000-double the police-permitted 30,000-broke past barricades as Vijay appeared on stage. Many victims were women and children who had travelled from across western Tamil Nadu to see Vijay, a Tamil cinema icon.