At least six people died and several others were injured in a stampede at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday evening as hundreds of devotees jostled for tickets for a religious event in the temple town, officials said. Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu condoled the incident which, he said, “deeply disturbed” him.
The incident took place when a large number of devotees, who turned up from across the country, jostled for tickets for the annual Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam at Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple on Tirumala Hills, an official from the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) said. The 10-day Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam (darshan of the deity from the northern entrance of the temple) commences from January 10.
“The death of several devotees in a stampede near Vishnu Niwasam in Tirupati for tokens to visit Tirumala Srivari Vaikuntha Dwara has shocked me. This tragic incident, which took place at a time when devotees had gathered in large numbers for tokens, deeply disturbed me,” CM Naidu wrote in a post in Telugu on X.
“In the wake of information that the condition of some of them is critical, I have directed higher officials to go to the spot and take relief measures… to provide better medical treatment to the injured and save their lives. I am talking to the district and TTD officials from time to time and am taking stock of the situation,” he added.
TTD chairman BR Naidu said the incident occurred soon after a DSP opened the gates for distribution of tickets. He added that one body has been identified.
“A DSP opened the gates…and immediately everybody pushing ahead led to this stampede and reports are emerging that six persons died,” the TTD head was quoted as saying by a local news channel.
The TTD chief informed that CM Naidu conducted a teleconference and expressed dissatisfaction over the temple employees and said such an incident was unfortunate. The CM is coming to the temple town on Thursday, he said.
“The CM directed us that these kind of incidents should not occur in future,” he said. “Taking this as a lesson, it is incumbent upon all of us to avert these kind of incidents in the future.”
According to officials, the TTD made arrangements for the distribution of 120,000 tokens to the devotees for the “sarva darshan” (free darshan) of Lord Venkateshwara Swamy for the first three days of the annual darshan on January 10 to 12. The distribution arrangements were made at 94 counters at three pilgrim lodges — Vishnu Nivasam, Srinivasam, and Bhudevi complexes, besides other places like Satyanarayanapuram, Bairagipatteda and Ramanaidu school, in Tirupati, officials said.
A TTD official said the pilgrims began thronging the lodges from Wednesday evening itself. Chaos broke out at Srinivasam to get the tokens for the annual pilgrimage. “This resulted in a stampede-like situation, as the pilgrims surged forward towards the counters to get the tokens,” the official added, requesting anonymity.
In the melee, several pilgrims were injured and one of them identified as Mallika from Salem In Tamil Nadu, died of asphyxiation on the spot, the official said. Later, the toll increased to six after five more devotees succumbed to their injuries. Some devotees also fell unconscious due to asphyxiation and they were immediately shifted to SVRR Ruia Hospital in Tirupati, where they are receiving treatment, the official said.
TTD executive officer J Shyamal Rao inspected the incident site and oversaw the rescue operations with the help of vigilance and police forces.