(Image source from: x.com/ani_digital)
Thousands of people flocked to the Tirumala Hills in Andhra Pradesh two days before the Vaikuntha Ekadasi festival at the Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple. The temple authorities had set up over 90 ticket counters to distribute 1,20,000 tokens for the "sarva darshan" (free darshan) of the Lord during the first three days of the 10-day festival. The tokens were to be handed out starting from 5 am on Thursday, but people gathered at the counters the night before. The distribution was arranged at 94 counters in various locations, but the situation became chaotic at the counter set up at MGM High School, with around 4,000-5,000 people crowding the counter from Wednesday morning, leading to an unruly situation by the evening.
#WATCH | Andhra Pradesh: Four people died in a stampede that occurred at Vishnu Nivasam in Tirupati during the distribution of Vaikunta Dwara Sarva Darshan tokens.
— ANI (@ANI) January 8, 2025
CM N Chandrababu Naidu spoke to officials over the phone about the treatment being provided to the injured in the… pic.twitter.com/655uJ7NEiK
The crowd surged forward all at once, leading to chaos due to inadequate arrangements to manage the crowds. This resulted in a stampede late Wednesday evening, in which at least six devotees died and over 40 were injured. It took around 15 minutes to control and evacuate the crowd. The festival allows devotees to pray to the deity Lord Venkateswara from the northern entrance of the temple. The incident deeply disturbed the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, who expressed condolences for the loss of lives.
