KARUR: The boy, all of two years, was playing outside his house in Vadivel Nagar near Velusamy Puram on Saturday when his aunt came there and said she would take him to see Vijay.

The child, Guruvishnu, son of Vimal, was among the 40 who died. As the gathering swelled, the boy’s parents started panicking and went to the spot to take him back to safety.

They managed to get the child back, but because of the pushing and shoving, the child slipped from their hand and got crushed under the frenzied crowd. Officials said he died on the spot.