Woman dies in stampede at TN temple during ritual for Jayalalithaa’s speedy recovery

TIRUVANNAMALAI: A 67-year-old woman died and 15 people sustained injuries in a stampede at Arulmighu Pachaiamman temple on the foothills of Annmalai Hills in Tiruvannamalai town on Monday.
The stampede happened during a milk pot (paal kudam) procession organised by former AIADMK minister ‘Agri’ Krishnamoorthy for the speedy recovery of party leader and Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa who has been undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospitals in Chennai since September 22.
Around 10,000 people participated in the procession from Pachiamman temple to Sri Arunachaleswarar temple. The organisers expected only 5,000 participants, but double the number of people gathered at the temple.
The stampede occurred around 3.30pm when several women tried to enter the Pachiamman temple to take silver pots. Many woman suffered injuries in the stampede. They were rushed to Government Tiruvannamalai Medical College Hospital where one of them, identified as Kamala Sammantham of VOC Nagar, died.
Superintendent of police R Ponni rushed to the spot and conducted an inquiry.