At least four people were killed and dozens injured on Saturday evening in a stampede at a university in South India, according to local officials and media reports. The stampede occurred in an outdoor hall at the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) in the southwestern state of Kerala, where a musical event was scheduled to take place.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan expressed "great shock and sadness" over the tragic news of the deaths of four students at CUSAT in a statement on the platform "X." He continued, "Our sincere condolences to their families. We pray for a speedy recovery for the injured."
The state's Health Minister Veena George stated that the bodies of the four individuals were transferred to Kalamassery Medical College, noting that four others were in critical condition, as reported by the PTI agency, which mentioned injuries to more than 60 individuals.
A local police official explained that a crowd outside the hall rushed to seek shelter from a sudden downpour when several people slipped on the stairs and were subsequently trampled, according to the agency. One of the deadliest stampede incidents in the country's recent history occurred nearly a decade ago, claiming at least 115 lives during a religious festival in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.
