The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Five people died and many had to be hospitalised at what has been variously described as a stampede and the effect of heat at an airshow by the Indian Air Force at Chennai’s Marina Beach on October 6. The Tamil Nadu government has ruled out crowd mismanagement as the cause for the deaths.
News reports say that between 12 and 15 lakh people attended the celebrations to mark the IAF’s 92nd anniversary.
It was the first such event in Chennai in two decades, said Indian Express, and the size of the crowds surprised organisers and authorities.
Late on October 6, five deaths had been confirmed and 40 people were in hospitals, according to the report. “Over 150 people have received first aid in various parts of the city due to the dehydration and stress they faced,” a senior official told Express.
The Hindu reported that as people thronged the Marina Beach from early in the morning, buses, trains and the Metro were crowded. There was a gridlock all around the beach and people waited in the scorching sun.
When the event ended at 1 pm, after significant displays by the IAF, there was again a rush as people tried to leave.
The Tamil Nadu government in a press statement said that the deaths were not related to crowd mismanagement. “No one died in the crowd. No deaths are related to crowd or mismanagement,” it said.
The News Minute has reported that ruling party DMK’s spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai has said that the issue was being politicised and because it was an event conducted by the Union government, its role in organising the event should be questioned.