A deadly stampede at Tirupati’s Lord Venkateswara temple on Wednesday left six people dead and several injured, as devotees and survivors narrated harrowing accounts of the tragedy. Complaints have emerged about poor crowd management and prolonged delays, with the Congress’ state unit blaming the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the temple, for the incident.
Devotees criticised the disorganised handling of the Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam, where long waiting hours for tickets culminated in the sudden opening of gates, triggering chaos.
“For five minutes, we thought all of us were dead. I have been coming to the temple for the past 25 years, and it has never happened like this,” said D Venkata Lakshmi, speaking to a local news channel on Wednesday night. She described how six boys pulled her aside and gave her water.
Lakshmi recounted that at least 10 people fell near her as the crowd surged. “Though I was raising a hue and cry that I was falling on the side, people were still rushing from behind and could not be controlled. I don’t know if they were pushing ahead, but the men were uncontrollable. People were walking over devotees. I could not even breathe for a long time,” she said.
She further alleged that proper crowd control by the police could have averted the tragedy. “Had the police allowed devotees to proceed in an orderly way, this disaster could have been avoided. People couldn’t make sense of what was happening,” she added.
Another devotee, who arrived at 11 am, said the gates were finally opened at 7 pm. “One person told devotees not to rush and go in a line, but who will listen? Police were outside, not inside,” she said, indicating a lack of coordination inside the temple premises.
A male devotee alleged that the police had prior knowledge of the presence of 5,000 devotees. He claimed that the gates were opened suddenly, triggering the stampede.
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