Tamil Nadu Stampede: A stampede at actor-politician Vijay’s rally in Tamil Nadu’s Karur on Saturday left at least 39 people, including nine children, dead and more than 50 injured. Police later revealed that the organisers had anticipated a gathering of about 10,000 people, but nearly three times that number turned up.

G Venkatraman, Director General of Police (DGP) in charge of Tamil Nadu, said that earlier rallies of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) had “smaller crowds.” However, this time, the turnout was “far higher” than expected.

He further said that the “reality” is that the crowd had already been “waiting for hours without sufficient food and water”, as Vijay arrived a few hours late at the venue.

“The permission for the meeting was given for 3 pm to 10 pm, but crowds started asse

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