Tirupati stampede: Six devotees waiting for Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam tickets die

Tirupati: At least six devotees died and dozens were injured in a stampede here on Wednesday night as hundreds of them jostled for tickets for Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam at Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple on Tirumala Hills, said an official.

Hundreds of devotees turned up from across the country for the 10-day Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam commencing from January 10.

"Three women and a man died in the stampede," the official confirmed.

Meanwhile, videos of police administering CPR on a couple of woman devotees and injured persons being shifted in ambulances went viral. The injured devotees were rushed to Sri Venkateswara Ramnarayan Ruia Government General Hospital for treatement.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) has earlier announced that a total of 1.2 lakh tokens (40,000 per each day) would be issued to the devotees from 5 am on Thursday for Vaikunthadwara Sarvadarshan on January 10, 11 and 12 at the Srinivasam, Vishnu Nivasam, Ramachandra Pushkarani, Alipiri Bhudevi Complex, Emaar Pally ZP High School, Bairagipatteda Ramanaidu High School, Satyanarayana Puram ZP High School and Indira Maidan centres.

However, the devotees from both the Telugu speaking states and neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka turned up in huge numbers at the token issuing centres from Wednesday evening leading to a stampede at Vishnu Nivasam, according to reports.

TTD chairman expresses dissatisfaction over the temple employees

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Chairman BR Naidu said 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," Naidu told vernacular media.

According to the TTD Chairman, Naidu conducted a teleconference and expressed dissatisfaction over the temple employees and said such an incident was unfortunate.

There is some suspicion that it happened due to (the temple) administration, he said and added that the CM is coming to Tirupati on Thursday to comfort the injured persons.

"The CM directed us that these kinds of incidents should not recur", he said. "Taking this as a lesson, it is incumbent upon all of us to avert these kinds of incidents in the future," said Naidu, adding the CM will announce ex–gratia on Thursday.

Terming the stampede as unfortunate, TTD board member Bhanu Prakash sought the forgiveness of Srivari (Lord Venkateswara Swamy) devotees over the incident.

There was some lacuna and stringent action will be taken but lost lives cannot be brought back, he said.

Chandrababu express shock over four devotees losing lives in Tirupati incident

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, on Wednesday expressed deep shock at the demise of four pilgrims in the stampede that took place at Vishnu Nivasam in Tirupati.

" I am deeply saddened at the ghastly incident in which four pilgrims lost their lives that took place as the devotees gathered in large numbers for the darshan tokens," the Chief Minister said.

Chandrababu Naidu inquired from the officials on the treatment being given to those who sustained grievous injuries in the incident.

The chief minister is closely monitoring the treatment being given to the injured and other developments. He also directed the officials to visit the place and take all possible steps for providing relief to the devotees besides ensuring that better medical treatment is provided to the injured.

Inputs from PTI.