Tirupati temple, one of the major sacred places of worship in the country, is in news for a horrific stampede that claimed six lives and injured many others. The stampede broke out on Wednesday night (January 8). The mishap occurred at a time when devotees from across the country had gathered at the temple for 10-day Vaikuntha Dwara Darshanam period which is to begin on Friday this week. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has taken cognisance of the mishap and is actively directing the efforts to provide relief to those affected.
How Did The Tirupati Stampede Took Place?
On Wednesday night, about 4000 devotees were queueing up for special darshan tokens.
Multiple media reports have said that a woman devotee now identified as Mallika suddenly fell ill while she was waiting in the queue
The queue was for one of the token counters at Bairagi Pattida Park.
The gates were opened in order to take Mallika to the hospital. But what was done in order to take one woman to hospital unexpectedly triggered a stampede.
As the gate was opened. Crowd took advantage of this and rushed forward. The sudden entry of thousands of people overwhelmed the temple officials who were at the scene. The massive throng of thousands of people triggered a stampede that resulted in six deaths. Mallika, the woman for whose evacuation the gates were opened was among the dead as well.
Tirupati temple's board member has apologised for the stampede saying that such a tragedy has never occurred in the temple's history.
"Six devotees died in the stampede, 40 have sustained injuries, we are providing the best medical facilities possible. This has never happened in TTD's history. I sincerely seek an apology from the devotees. We will conduct an inquiry and take serious action," said Bhanu Prakash Reddy, a board member of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has already convened a meeting of senior official expressing his displeasure at the situation. He is slated to visit the temple today.
