Tirupati:
When Venkatesh, his wife Shanthi and their son left for Tirupati from their home in Visakhapatnam, they were very excited to have a grand darshan at the temple on the occasion of Vaikuntha Ekadashi. However, they had no idea that this would be their last journey together.
Venkatesh had reached the temple with his family for a special darshan.
Venkatesh’s family was also among hundreds of people who stood in line near Vishnu Nivasam to get tokens for the special darshan. At one point, one of the women standing in the queue for the token suddenly started feeling unwell and officials opened the door to take her out. After this, an atmosphere of chaos suddenly arose as the people in the queue realized that the gate had been opened for the token and they started trying to get out of the door. In this stampede, 6 people died and more than 40 people were injured. Let us tell you that Venkatesan’s wife Shanti was also among the dead.
Venkatesh is shocked by the tragedy
This morning Venkatesh was standing outside Shri Venkateshwar Ramnarayan Ruia Government Hospital, shocked by this tragedy. Speaking to NDTV, he said, “The police system in Tirupati was very poor. My wife was standing at the front of the line and that is why we did not even realize that she had fallen down. Since the stampede, we have been searching for her in hospitals. But we could not find her anywhere, later we got information about her death from a viral video.”
District Collector said that all arrangements had been made
District Collector Dr S Venkateshwar told NDTV that adequate number of police forces were deployed at the counters. “This (incident) was unfortunate. There were adequate forces and arrangements from our side, food, water, toilets, everything was taken care of.” The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Board, which manages the affairs of the temple, has denied any conspiracy in this regard.
Andhra Pradesh CM will visit Tirupati today
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will visit Tirupati today to take stock of the situation and announce compensation for the victims. Chandrababu Naidu said on this incident, “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 at When a large number of devotees had gathered to collect the tokens.”
PM Modi also expressed condolences
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also expressed his condolences on this. The Prime Minister’s Office said in a post on X, “I am saddened by the stampede in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. My thoughts are with those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured people get well soon. Andhra Pradesh government is providing all possible assistance to the affected people.”
