Four people died and over two hundred people were injured after chaos erupted in Chennai after an air show organised by the Indian Air Force (IAF). Poor crowd management and wrong decisions of the authorities have been blamed for the tragedy. The air show was held at Marina Beach to celebrate the 92nd anniversary of the Indian Air Force.
The show attempted to enter the Limca Book of Records with the presence of around 16 lakh people. As per reports, around 13 lakh people arrived at the venue by train, metro, bus, and cars to watch the show. While the show started at 11 AM, people had started to arrive at 7 AM to secure a good spot.
The blazing sun caused a lot of discomfort to the people. Adding to the difficulties, the authorities removed water vendors from the area. Lack of water caused many elderly people to faint due to heat exhaustion, even before the event started.
However, the real trouble began after the show ended at 1 PM, as lakhs of people tried to exit the venue at the same time. Lakhs of people poured onto Kamarajar Salai, the road along the Marina beach, causing a complete standstill. Traffic authorities were helpless as they were not prepared to handle such a large number of crowds.
The massive crowd caused a stampede-like situation and resulted in the death of 4 people due to suffocation, heat exhaustion and dehydration. Over 230 people were injured, and 96 of them required hospitalisation. The News Minute has identified the dead victims as Srinivasan (48), Karthikeyan (34). , John Babu (56), and Dinesh.
People were stranded at various places in the area under the blazing sun, with locals coming to rescue with drinking water. Chaos also erupted at train stations such as the Government Estate metro station, the Chintadripet MRTS station and bus stops such as nearby Anna Square. Some people reportedly managed to escape the rush by entering into the Madras University campus.
Chennai Metro had increased the frequency of trains to cater to the extra crowd, but everyone wanted to leave as soon as the show ended, causing mayhem.
Police had to clear the roads to make way for ambulances. Roads leading from Marina Beach to various places were blocked with traffic for several hours, disrupting traffic in the entire city. The situation returned to normal after around 3 hours, police said.
Officials said that they expected around 10 lakh people, and made arrangements accordingly. But the situation on Sunday showed that the arrangements were not adequate, and then the authorities failed to manage the crowd after the show ended. Instead of a controlled flow of people from the venue after the show was over, they allowed everyone to leave at the same time, causing a stampede-like situation.
