Panicked travellers swarmed bus and train stations across India following the announcement of a nationwide "complete lockdown", effective from midnight Tuesday, (March 24).

As the state government prepared for a lockdown, footage shot the afternoon of March 24 shows thousands of people rushing to the Dr. MGR bus terminus in Koyambedu, Chennai city in Tamil Nadu.

Trainlines had been halted on Sunday (March 22), and buses had been ordered to cease all travel at 6pm on Tuesday, prompting the final rush for migrant workers to return to their home villages.

Panic erupted as commuters started pushing each other and climbed on top of the buses and pushed themselves through the windows to get seats in the buses.

Police tried to control the situation but the angry commuters staged a protest and argued with the officials to provide adequate buses to their native places.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a "complete" lockdown for India's 1.3 billion people from Tuesday midnight, warning that "many families will be destroyed forever" if the country didn't get to grips with its coronavirus outbreak in the next three weeks. Only essential services will be operational.

Panic erupted in bus stations in Chennai as migrant workers wanting to reach their villages overcrowded the bus stations before the state government lockdown at 6pm on Tuesday. As the State government prepared for a lockdown from Tuesday evening, thousands of people were rushed to the Dr. MGR bus terminus in Koyambedu to return to their native places. With the train services fully canceled from Sunday, the only silver lining for the commuters was the bus transport which was also stopped at 6 pm on Tuesday. As a result, the Koyambedu bus terminus was crowded with anxious commuters wanting to reach their hometown within the State. The sudden surge in the commuter population caused difficulties for the transport department authorities to operate long-distance buses in a short span of time.

Panic erupted as Commuters started pushing each other and climbed on top of the buses and pushed themselves through the windows to get seats in the buses. Police tried to control the situation but the angry commuters staged a protest and argued with the officials to provide adequate buses to their native places. But citing the prohibitory orders police cleared the commuters and locked the bus stations.