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Stampede in Tirupati: Thousands at One Counter, Lack of Crowd Control Lead to Tragedy
Stampede in Tirupati : Distribution arrangements were made at 94 counters for pilgrims to Vishnu Nivasam, Srinivasam and Bhudevi complexes.
Darshan tokens for the 10-day festival were to be given from 5 am on Thursday.
Vaikuntha Ekadasi festival
Thousands at one counter, lack of crowd control: What caused the stampede in Tirupati?
Two days before the Vaikuntha Ekadasi festival began at the Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple on the Tirumala hills in Andhra Pradesh, a huge crowd thronged over 90 ticket counters set up for the festival.
Arrangements were made to distribute 1,20,000 tokens to devotees for “sarva darshan” (free darshan) of Lord Venkateswara Swamy for the first three days of the annual darshan from January 10 to 12.
Darshan tokens for the 10-day festival were to be given from 5 am on Thursday, but thousands of people gathered at the counters set up by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which oversees the operations of the temple, the night before.
94 counters at three pilgrim
Officials said the distribution was arranged at 94 counters at three pilgrim lodges – Vishnu Nivasam, Srinivasam and Bhudevi complexes – besides other places like Satyanarayanapuram, Bairagipatteda and Ramanaidu School in Tirupati.
Tirupati Municipal Commissioner N Moruya said the situation went out of control at the counter set up at MGM High School in Bairagipatteda near the Vishnu Nivasam temple. Around 4,000-5,000 people had gathered at the counter since Wednesday morning. By evening, the crowd went out of control and jostling ensued.

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According to TTD Chairman BR Naidu, when the gate was opened to help a woman who was in a critical condition, the crowd suddenly rushed forward, leading to chaos.
Lack of adequate arrangements to control the crowd led to a stampede late Wednesday evening, in which at least six devotees died and more than 40 were injured. Tirupati Collector S Venkateswara told that it took about 15 minutes to control the crowd.
During this festival, devotees can worship Lord Venkateswara from the northern entrance of the temple.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his condolences are with those who have lost their “loved ones”.
Comments
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu condoled the incident, saying it left him “deeply saddened”. “The death of many devotees in the stampede to collect tokens for darshan of Tirumala Srivari Vaikuntha Dwara near Vishnu Nivasam in Tirupati has shocked me. This tragic incident, which occurred when a large number of devotees had gathered to collect tokens, has deeply disturbed me,” Chandrababu Naidu wrote in a post in Telugu on Twitter.
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