Stampede at Army Recruitment rally

VISAKHAPATNAM: Seven Army aspirants were admitted to a hospital following a stampede during a certificate verification programme at Armed Reserve Police Grounds at Kailasagiri area here on Sunday. No casualties were reported.Sources said around 6,000 youth reached the venue on Saturday night.As soon as the authorities of Army Recruitment Office kickstarted the programme, large number of youth raced to reach the office, resulting in a stampede.Talking to mediapersons on Sunday, director of recruitment Colonel VK Singh said the stampede occurred owing to the huge turnout which exceeded the estimated number. However, district administration had made all arrangements for the smooth conduct of the programme, he said.Commissioner of police J Purnachandra Rao said, congestion during the scrutiny of certificates led to seven persons feeling suffocated and therefore, were rushed to a hospital.However, aspirants alleged that authorities had failed to provide basic amenities like drinking water at the venue. Also, there was lack of coordination between Police and Army personnel resulting in confusion among aspirants, sources said.On Saturday, Additional joint collector S Satyanarayana had changed the venue for army recruitment certificate verification programme from Army Recruitment Office (ARO) at Dondaparthy to Armed Reserve Police Grounds at Kailasagiri area in the city to accommodate large number of candidates coming from Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, East, West Godavari districts and Yanam.Army recruitment rally began at Indira Priyadarshini Municipal Stadium on December 9 and will go on till December 15 for candidates from West Godavari, East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts besides Yanam.The rally was to recruit people to the posts of soldier (technical), soldier (GD), nursing, soldier clerks and store keepers. A section of media on Sunday reported that two aspirants had died during the stampede. However, police reiterated that there were no casualties.District administration has now set up a medical camp at the venue to offer first-aid to the candidates and for medical emergency, if any.