A stampede at actor-turned-politician Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar’s political rally in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu claimed 38 lives, including 10 children, the Hindustan Times reported, citing the state’s police chief G. Venkataraman.
The deadly crowd surge occurred Saturday evening due to the delayed arrival of Vijay, as he is popularly known. The estimated 27,000-strong gathering far exceeded the expected 10,000, and many were left without food or water for hours in intense heat.
