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Monday, Dec 19, 2005

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42 killed in Chennai stampede

Tamil Nadu Bureau

Chaos at flood relief centre, former High Court judge to head Commission of Inquiry

— Photo: K. Pichumani

PERSONAL TRAGEDY: Children grieve over the death of their father who was killed in the stampede at a flood relief centre in Chennai on Sunday.

CHENNAI: Forty-two persons were trampled to death and 37 seriously injured in a stampede at a flood relief centre in south Chennai in the early hours of Sunday. This was the second stampede in two months at a Chennai flood relief centre.

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced a Commission of Inquiry, headed by a former judge of the Madras High Court, A. Raman, to look into Sunday's tragedy.

More than 4,000 people had gathered at the centre, Arignar Anna School in MGR Nagar, where tokens for grant of relief were to be given to ration card holders attached to three Public Distribution System shops. The tragedy occurred around 4 a.m. as people pushed at the gate of the school in the belief that distribution of tokens was about to begin.

— PHOTO: AP

DESPAIR: Grieving relatives of victims waiting at a hospital on Sunday.

Although officials had announced that the distribution would begin only at 9 a.m., people started queuing up outside the school from 9 p.m. on Saturday.

When a police patrol vehicle came to the school at 4 a.m., those at the tail end of the queue thought the staff authorised to distribute tokens had arrived and surged towards the gate. In the melee the gate was forced open.

`Arrangements inadequate'

According to eyewitnesses, the security arrangements were inadequate and there was little crowd regulation at the hot spot.

— PHOTO: K. Pichumani

Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko consoling relatives at a victim's house.

As there was a concrete slope at the entrance, those at the head of the queue slipped and fell. People stumbled over one another. The rush did not stop, and the gate was again closed with great difficulty. By then several people had been crushed to death or seriously injured.

— PHOTO K. Pichumani

The daughter and grandchild of Venkatesan, a victim of the stampede, holding a picture of him and his wife.

Rain and poor lighting facilities in the area added to the chaos. The road where the school was situated was too narrow to hold such a crush of people. Many in the queue wanted to enter the school building to escape the downpour.

Seriousness of situation

According to eyewitnesses, people in front threw sand at those behind in an attempt to dissuade them from pressing forward. However, those towards the end of the queue were unaware of the seriousness of the situation. Even after the stampede and the closure of the gate, some persons scaled the compound wall in an attempt to enter the school.

Only after it was announced that the relief materials would be reached home did people outside the school — who had no inkling of the deaths — disperse from the scene. Rescue workers and police personnel had difficulty in reaching the injured because of the rain and the crowd. Chappals, umbrellas, and ration cards were strewn all over.

— PHOTO: K. Pichumani

In the compound of the MGR Nagar school, the scene of the stampede, a heap of footwear bears testimony to the tragedy.

The injured were rushed to the Government General Hospital and the Government Royapettah Hospital.

CM visits hospital

Ms. Jayalalithaa, who visited the injured at the hospitals, said the families of the dead would be given a solatium of Rs. 1 lakh each. The injured would be given Rs.15,000 each. The Chief Minister said that it seemed "some miscreants" had spread rumours on the timing of the distribution to "bring a bad name" to her Government.

— PHOTO: K.V. Srinivasan

On Saturday, a crowd outside a public distribution system outlet at Jaffarkhanpet, not far from where the tragedy occurred the next day, jostling for relief handouts.

The Opposition Democratic Progressive Alliance, led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam president M. Karunanidhi, adopted a resolution asking Ms. Jayalalithaa to step down owning moral responsibility for the tragedy. Despite a similar stampede in Vyasarpadi in north Chennai in which seven people died, the Government had not taken precautionary steps, the DPA added.

Report to Centre

The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary, Vaiko, did not stay till the end of the DPA meeting and rushed to the school. He wanted the Chief Minister to take responsibility for the administrative lapses, which, he said, had caused the deaths. Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology Dayanidhi Maran said he would send a report on the tragedy to the Central Government.

Union Minister for Highways and Surface Transport T.R. Baalu, who represents south Chennai in the Lok Sabha, said the State Government should have reached the relief to the homes of the affected people. Shops in the area downed shutters as a mark of respect to the dead.

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