New Delhi:
Six devotees were killed and several others were injured in a stampede near the Baikunth Dwar Darshan ticket center at Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday. The incident occurred when a large number of devotees gathered to collect the tokens, leading to a stampede. Six people died and many others were injured in this incident. The injured have been taken to the hospital. One of the deceased has been identified as a resident of Salem, Tamil Nadu.
On this incident, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu took information about the situation from the officials and expressed condolences.
CM wrote on X, The death of several devotees in the stampede to get tokens for darshan of Tirumala Srivari Vaikuntha gate near Vishnu Nivasam in Tirupati has shocked me. This tragic incident, which happened when a large number of devotees had gathered to collect the token, deeply troubled me. After receiving information that the condition of some of them is critical, I have instructed higher officials to go to the spot and take relief measures… so that the injured can get better medical treatment and their lives can be saved. I am talking to the district and TTD officials from time to time and taking stock of the situation.
In fact, since morning, thousands of devotees were standing in queues at various ticket centers of Tirupati for Vaikuntha Dwar Darshan Token. The incident occurred when devotees were allowed to queue up at Bairagi Pattida Park. After the accident, Tirupati police immediately controlled the situation and evacuated the devotees safely.
Let us tell you that Baikunth Dwar Darshan has been opened for ten days, due to which thousands of people are gathering for tokens.
Temple committee chairman BR Naidu called an emergency meeting to take stock of the incident and promised to brief the media about the situation.