KARUR: In the trauma care and special wards of Karur Government Medical College Hospital on the midnight of Saturday, stretchers moved in and out as nurses rushed with IV drips and relatives waited anxiously by bedsides. With 50 patients — 27 men and 23 women — admitted after the stampede during actor-politician Vijay's campaign in Veluchamipuram, the hospital has turned into the centre witnessing both battles for survival and sorrow.

For 35-year-old S Murugan, a milk vendor and TVK functionary from Vengamedu, the tragedy that claimed at least 39 lives cut deep. With fractured ribs and on oxygen support, he drifted in and out of consciousness, unable to speak. His friend, who accompanied him to the hospital, recounted what had happened.

Murugan had gone to the meeting with his mother

See Full Page