Tirupati temple stampede: 6 killed; 15 injured

At least six devotees died and dozens were injured in a stampede here on Wednesday (January 8) night as hundreds of them jostled for tickets for Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam in Andhra Pradesh's Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple on Tirumala Hills.

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) chairman BR Naidu said one body has been identified.

"A DSP opened the gates…and immediately everybody pushing ahead led to this stampede and reports are emerging that six persons died," Naidu told a vernacular news channel.

Hundreds of devotees turned up from across the country for the 10-day Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam commencing from January 10.

CM Naidu to visit temple 

"A few devotees dying in a stampede near Vishnu Nivasam in Tirupati while trying for Vaikuna Dwara Darsanam has grieved me intensely," said Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in a post on 'X'.

According to the TTD chairman, Naidu conducted a teleconference and expressed dissatisfaction over the temple employees and said such an incident was unfortunate.

There is some suspicion that it happened due to (the temple) administration, he said and added that the CM is coming to Tirupati on Thursday to comfort the injured persons.

"The CM directed us that these kinds of incidents should not recur", he said.

Nearly 100 special counters

TTD  has set up 94 counters at nine locations across Tirupati and Tirumala. The distribution of tokens is scheduled to begin at 5 a.m. on Thursday. A total of 1.20 lakh tokens will be available for the darshan period from January 10 to 12.