5 Killed, Around 200 Hospitalised at IAF Airshow at Chennai’s Marina Beach; Opposition Slams Stalin Govt

Chennai: Five persons died and 200 others were hospitalized due to poor crowd management and scorching heat after the Indian Air Force (IAF) airshow at the Marina seafront in Chennai on Sunday.

The Opposition AIADMK and the BJP targeted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin for mismanagement.

This airshow was held to mark the 92nd anniversary of the IAF. Chaos prevailed in the overcrowded Marina beach when the crowd rushed to return home immediately at the end of the show. According to police sources, the deceased were identified as Srinivasan (48), Karthikeyan (34), D John (56), Mani (55) and Dinesh Kumar.

A crowd of around 15 lakh people had gathered to witness the airshow. Scorching heat of 36 degree Celsius and inadequate arrangements let several victims complaining of nausea and vomiting. Several of them fainted.

Of those hospitalised, nearly 100 were treated as outpatients.

Since the airshow was held after a gap of 21 years, Tamil Nadu Government and the IAF had widely publicized it.

In order to get into the Limca Book of records, the organisers were interested in getting a huge crowd. The event started at 11 am and ended at around 1 pm. The crowd assembled on the beach from 7 am. Unable to bear the scorching heat, the spectators were seen rushing to get back once the event. When the show was over, everyone started to leave the venue at once resulting in chaos and confusion.

AIADMK general secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy blamed the DMK government for the mishap and said, “I strongly condemn the Chief Minister and the DMK government for abject failure to ensure security and proper facilities for such an important event. The state government should be held accountable.”

BJP state president K Annamalai said in a post on X, “This tragedy cannot be passed off as an accident. It shows complete failure of Chief Minister MK Stalin’s administration”.