Tamil Nadu Medical and Family Welfare minister Ma Subramanian on Monday said that five deaths that occurred after the Indian Air Force’s air show on the Marina beach on Sunday were related to heat issues and appealed to the political parties and media not to politicise the issue. Of the nearly 100 people admitted to the government hospitals close to Marina beach, 7 were undergoing treatment, and 93 people were treated as out-patients. Five persons were brought dead to the hospitals, Subramanian stated. The condition of those undergoing treatment at the hospitals was stable, he said and added that there was no stampede while the spectators started leaving for home at the same time.
At least five persons, who were among thousands of spectators, died due to causes including extreme exhaustion. A senior city police official said that one person died on the beachfront and four others in the vicinity and all the five were among the thousands who had gathered along the several kilometer long shoreline to witness the air show.
“We don’t deny the deaths, which were all related to heat conditions as the people remained under the hot sun from 11 am till one pm. Let me make it clear, we made arrangements anticipating 15 lakh people for the IAF’s 92nd Day celebrations and even provided more than what the IAF had sought,” the Minister said. “The IAF had requested us to ready 100 beds, an ICU facility with 20 beds besides keeping a blood bank on alert to respond to any emergency. But we arranged 4,000 beds at five government medical college hospitals in the vicinity,” Subramanian said refuting the opposition parties’ charge of inadequate arrangements.
