The crowd at Vijay’s event in Karur on Saturday night was less a political assembly and more a sea of fans desperate to see their superstar from close quarters so they could have a glimpse, a selfie, a story to tell. In that frenzy, when some supporters who had climbed atop a tree branch fell on the people behind Vijay’s campaign van, panic rippled outward and turned a rally into a catastrophe.

Thirty-eight people died, among them 16 women and six children, and more than 100 are admitted to hospitals across Karur and Trichy. Many are fighting for their lives. Dr D Sundaresan, professor at Karur Medical College, said 48 people – 23 men and 25 women – are being treated there.

The disaster has highlighted the combustible mix of Tamil Nadu ’s enduring movie fandom and its politics, where a

See Full Page