Anushka Rajvedi, Pune
At least six people died and dozens were injured after a stampede in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati temple on Wednesday.
A 10 day festival was about to begin on 10 January 2025, Friday at the famous Tirupati temple located in Andhra Pradesh, that attracts millions of people every year. Counters were set-up by the temple authorities to distribute free tokens to the public. These tokens were to be given on 9 January 2025, Thursday. However, people started to gather on the night of 8 January 2025, Wednesday. In the hassle of receiving the free tokens, the crowd collided and started pushing each other. The chaos soon turned into a stampede which led to the death of six people and left many injured.
The higher officials of the temple issued an apology to the public and stated that strict actions will be taken against all the employees who were held responsible for the incident. The chairman of the trust, BR Naidu explained that the reason behind the occurrence of this tragic incident is ‘overcrowding of people’. Another board member of the temple’s trust apologised to the public and explained that such an incident has never taken place before in the temple’s history. He emphasised that the stampede was an unexpected event as there were more than 90 counters set for the distribution of the token.
N Chandrababu Naidu, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh expressed his dejection for the tragedy on his social media account on x. He will be visiting the temple on Thursday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi while offering the condolence to the families of those affected by the incident stated that his heart hurts for those who were affected. He assured the citizens that the state government will provide them with any kind of assistance that they require.
This is not the first time that such an incident has taken place at a temple. From the Hathras stampede in July 2024, where more than hundred people died to the explosion in 2016 that was caused by a firework display that was banned in Kerala, the happening of tragic incidents at the places of worship in India has become very common.