A man from Theni district, Selvam, and an unidentified woman, were killed in a stampede at Goripalayam when a section of crowd of devotees surged forward during Lord Kallazhagar’s (the presiding deity of Sundararaja Perumal Temple in Azhagarkoil’s) entry into Vaigai river, as part of the Chithirai festival on Saturday, April 16, 2022.
Eleven persons were admitted to the Government Rajaji Hospital with complaints of dizziness and after some of them fell unconscious.
After the procession of Lord Kallazhagar crossed the Goripalayam junction and entered Moongil Kadai Street, on His way to Vaigai river, the devotees from all sides tried to follow the deity. In the melee, some of the devotees were trapped in the crowd and suffocated. As one after another complained of dizziness, fellow devotees rushed them to the Government Rajaji Hospital across the junction.
Two of them, a man and the woman, died on the way to the hospital. The man was later identified as Selvam of Uthamapalayam. The identity of the woman, aged around 65 years, was yet to be established.
Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration, P. Moorthi, along with District Collector, S. Aneesh Sekhar and Commissioner of Police, T. Senthil Kumar, visited those who were hospitalised. The Minister said that the devotees complained of suffocation after they were caught in an unprecedented crowd that had assembled after two years for the Chithirai festival.
He said that the Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin, had announced Rs. 10 lakh compensation for the families of the deceased and Rs. 1 lakh assistance for the injured. The State Government would bear all the medical expenses for the injured, he added.
