At least five spectators died and hundreds were hospitalized when the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) air show, held to mark its 92nd anniversary celebrations, turned into a nightmare at Chennai’s Marina Beach as a crowd of more than 12 million turned up.
The event, which was supposed to be a military air show, ended in chaos as the sheer size of the crowd overwhelmed both the organizers and the local authorities, the Indian Express reported.
The event, which was the first such event in Chennai in over two decades, attracted thousands of people. They started gathering at the Marina Beach at 7am for the air show from 11.30am to 1pm.
However, when the event ended at 1 p.m., the entire crowd tried to leave the venue at once. Traffic authorities were unprepared to handle the mass exodus and soon traffic jams formed around Marina Beach, crippling traffic for over an hour.
There are questions about the Indian Air Force aggressively pushing the event to set a world record in Limca, trying to mobilize 15 million spectators – far more than it could handle – and poor crowd and traffic management by the Chennai city police.
Everything went smoothly before the event, with extensive traffic diversions and parking regulations in place. But closer to the air show — scheduled for 11 a.m. — the crowd swelled to such an extent that the elevated MRTS railway stations along Marina Beach Road turned into a sea of people.
Also Read
- Uttarakhand Tourism Launches Mount Kailash Darshan From Indian Territory
- Rare 80,000-year-old comet illuminates Bengaluru skies
There was no adequate treatment of drinking water in the audience area. With the temperature skyrocketing and no public transport, hundreds of people had to walk three to four kilometers on congested roads to catch public transport or collect their vehicles. Many – children among them – just sat on the pavement, tired and dehydrated. Many of them also tended to make faint or tired individuals.
Many of those attending the exhibition experienced dehydration and fainting as temperatures soared to 36 degrees Celsius with no water or medical assistance available, participants said, IE reported.
