Chennai: A 65-year-old woman died and 15 people sustained injuries in a stampede at Arulmigu Pachaiamman temple on the foothills of Anamalai Hills in Tiruvannamalai town today.

The stampede happened during a milk pot (paal kudam) procession organised by former AIADMK minister ‘Agri’ Krishnamoorthy for the speedy recovery of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who has been undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospitals in Chennai since September 22.

Around 10,000 people participated in the procession from Pachaiamman temple to Sri Arunachaleswarar temple. The organisers were expecting only 5,000 participants, and were not equipped to deal with double the number that turned up.

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The stampede occurred around 3.30 pm, when several women tried to enter the Pachaiamman temple to take silver pots. Many women suffered injuries in the stampede. They were rushed to Government Tiruvannamalai Medical College Hospital, where one of them, identified as Kamala Sammantham of VOC Nagar, died.

Superintendent of Police R Ponni rushed to the spot and conducted an inquiry.