At least six individuals had been killed and 35 injured in a stampede close to one in all India’s busiest and richest temples, after thousands of devout Hindus assembled there to safe free go to passes, authorities mentioned Thursday.
The interval from Friday to Jan. 19 is taken into account auspicious for visits to the deity on the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple, popularly often known as Tirupati, within the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, the location of Wednesday’s incident.
“The stampede occurred when the gate was opened,” S. Venkateswar, the district collector, or prime income official, advised reporters Thursday. “About 2,500 individuals simply pushed by way of the gate… just a few fell.”
Authorities had been nonetheless attempting to find out what prompted the stampede, he added. Tickets for visits to the almost 2,000-year-old temple often price $3.50 (300 rupees) every and are bought on-line.
A police grievance confirmed the incident occurred between 7:30 p.m. and eight:30 pm exterior a faculty just a few miles from the temple, the place state authorities had arrange counters to subject tickets from Thursday.
Video photographs confirmed police struggling to handle the group that had gathered, in clips by information company ANI during which Reuters holds a minority stake.
People who began queuing early for the passes pushed and jostled one another, resulting in the stampede, Venkateswar mentioned, and a couple of dozen of the 35 injured who had been taken to hospital had been nonetheless being handled.
Temple operator, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), apologized for the incident and promised motion towards anybody discovered accountable.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, a key ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, inspected the stampede website and visited a few of the injured in hospital.
YSR Congress Party, the principle opposition social gathering led by Naidu’s predecessor Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, blamed the state authorities for the incident, calling it an administrative failure.
Modi supplied condolences in a submit on X, including, “My ideas are with those that have misplaced their close to and pricey ones.”
