The toll in the stampede at actor-politician Vijay’s rally in Karur on Sunday rose to 40 after a man succumbed to injuries at the government hospital, a health official said on Sunday. According to officials, the stampede broke out on Saturday evening, around 7.30 pm, just as Vijay was addressing supporters who had gathered in huge numbers in the afternoon and were waiting for hours to get a glimpse of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) leader.

Vijay said he was heart-broken and in “unbearable pain” following the stampede that left women and children dead. Earlier in the day, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary P Senthil Kumar said 39 people, including nine children, died and 67 people were undergoing treatment as in-patients. “In this unfortunate incident, 39 deaths have been reported — 17 women, 13 men, four male children, and five female children. The postmortem has been done for 30 (out of 39 deceased) and the bodies have been handed over to their families,” Senthil Kumar told reporters after visiting the patients at the GH.