The Tamil Nadu government has claimed that the death of five spectators after the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) air show in Chennai on October 6 at Marina beach were not related to crowd mismanagement. Five people were confirmed dead after the air show and more than 200 were admitted to hospitals after they fainted or became weak from exhaustion and dehydration. More than 13 lakh people had flocked to the venue by train, metro, cars, and buses to watch the show, which aimed to enter the Limca Book of Records for attracting the largest gathering for an air show.
The state government has claimed that it provided facilities and made arrangements for the IAF’s air show beyond what was requested to them. In a press statement on Sunday, October 6, the Tamil Nadu government said that there are no inpatients in Royapettah and Omandurar hospitals and that all were discharged. “Two inpatients in Rajiv Gandhi Hospital due to some health issue both are stable. No one died in the crowd. No deaths are related to crowd or mismanagement,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, the state Health Minister Ma Subramanian said that the state government extended full administrative cooperation to ensure the smooth conduct of the air show. He said that a series of coordination meetings were organized, chaired by the Chief Secretary, involving IAF officials and key department heads from the state government. “In these consultative meetings arrangements were made keeping in mind all the demands of the Air Force officers,” he said.
Further, the Minister also said that two health teams with an adequate number of doctors and nurses were deployed on behalf of the state government at the venue. “Apart from this, medical teams were formed on behalf of the Indian Army; and 40 ambulances were also stationed there for emergency medical assistance. Adequate paramedical teams were also constituted. 100 beds and 65 doctors were kept ready in Government Medical College Hospitals including Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital,” he said.
“I would like to inform you that the Tamil Nadu government provided facilities and made arrangements beyond what was requested by them, for the Indian Air Force program held in Chennai today,” the Tamil Nadu health minister said.
Meanwhile, spokesperson of DMK Saravanan Annadurai has said that the issue was being politicised. Stating that it was an event conducted by the Union government, he questioned their role in organising the event. One of the biggest criticisms about the event was that people could not exit for almost an hour as the beach road and all feeder roads were blocked, and there were not enough transportation arrangements made.
Saravanan placed the blame on Railways and asked why the southern railways did not operate enough trains.
The event was organised by IAF to commemorate its 92nd anniversary. While more than 13 lakh people gathered at the spot to watch the show, it turned disastrous when people attempted to leave the area after the event, and the traffic authorities were rendered unable to control the crowd.