A woman was killed due to asphyxiation and her son was hospitalised in a critical condition as massive crowds "jostled" at a cinema hall here during the premiere show of actor Allu Arjun's "Pushpa 2: The Rule", police said on Thursday.
The incident took place on Wednesday night when fans thronged the film theatre to catch a glimpse of Allu Arjun and other members of the film.
There were no arrangements by the theatre management or prior information about the arrival of the actor, the police said.
Talking to a news channel, the woman's husband said there was a massive crowd at the film theatre to see Arjun and a stampede-like situation prevailed.
Expressing anguish, he quoted doctors as saying that the condition of his son would be known only after 48 hours.
A heavy crowd rushed ahead and the woman and her son, who were trying to enter inside the theatre, suffocated and fell unconscious apparently after being pushed by the crowd, police said, based on preliminary investigation.
A police official pointed out that the theatre was small, and it could not accommodate such a massive crowd.
Police personnel conducted Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) on the woman and her son and shifted them to a hospital, where the woman died and her son is undergoing treatment, a senior police official said.
To control the situation, police used mild force to disperse the surging crowd.
A case has been booked in connection with the incident.
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