Families of victims recall ordeal at air show

Families recount traumatic experiences of losing loved ones during Indian Air Force air show stampede.

The families of those who died during the air show by the Indian Air Force (IAF) narrated the trauma they endured during the stampede-like situation at the event.

One of the victims was Dineshkumar, 40, who had a doctorate in nanotechnology and was a resident of Velachery. He had gone to the event with his five-year-old son. His friend C. Balachandran said, “After the show, he was walking with his son towards the Parthasarathy temple arch, where he had parked his two-wheeler. Before reaching the spot, he fainted. Members of the public attempted to resuscitate him by giving him water and CPR. Since the pulse was down, they called an ambulance, which arrived 20 minutes late. He was taken to the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, where the doctors declared him brought dead.”

Another victim, C.H. John, 57, ran a printing press at his house in Anandhanayagi Nagar, Korukkupet. He had accompanied his wife Elizabeth and brother Sham to the show. On his return, he collapsed due to extreme heat. “While we were returning from the show, my husband fell down, saying he felt giddy. The policemen standing nearby assisted him and made him lie on the side of the road. We waited for two hours, but no medical assistance came. No one came to revive him immediately,” said Elizabeth, weeping profusely.

His daughter-in-law said, “The unusual heat and the crowd were unbearable for my father-in-law. We ran out of the water we had taken to the venue. There was no water to drink. He had fainted once on the beach. We managed to take him to the road after giving him water. But by then, his pulse was low. However, he was not taken into an ambulance for two hours, and was kept waiting. It was only after we protested that they agreed to take him. We would not have needed their help, had we been able to move around and take him to the hospital ourselves.”

Karthikeyan, 34, of RMV Nagar, Thiruvotriyur, had accompanied his wife Sivaranjani and three-year-old son to the show. They left the venue a few minutes before it concluded. “At 1.32 p.m., he asked us to stay at a particular place and left to bring his bike. Subsequently, I did not receive any call from him, and could not contact him for two hours. After repeated calls, someone picked up the phone and said that my husband had vomited and fainted on the road. He sent us the location, and we took the help of the police to reach the spot in 10 minutes. My husband was lying unresponsive on the roadside. We got into an ambulance and rushed to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, where he was declared dead,” Sivaranjani said.