At least six people have been confirmed dead and a dozen sustained varying degrees of injuries after a stampede occurred at a Hindu religious site in Tirupati town of India.
As gathered, the huge crowd gathered to collect free entrance tokens to visit the town’s Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple when the incident happened in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
Confirming the incident on Thursday, a spokesman of the state’s ruling Telugu Desam Party told newsmen that devotees from across the country had arrived at the scene in the early hours of the day to congregate for a 10-day festival at the temple that will start in a day.
“The unfortunate incident has claimed the lives of six devotees. I pray to God to give peace to the departed souls,” Jain said.
According to the office of Chandrababu Naidu, chief minister of the state, authorities had set up counters to distribute free tokens from Thursday to visit the almost 2,000-year-old temple but the crowd pushed and jostled.
In a post shared through his social media platform X, Naidu said the deaths “grieved me intensely”.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences to the families of the deceased saying my thoughts are with those who have lost their near and dear ones.
This incident came days before the start of the Kumbh Mela, a six-week Hindu festival of prayer and sacred bathing expected to be the largest religious gathering in history with at least 400 million pilgrims expected to attend.
Deadly accidents are common at places of worship in India during major religious festivals due to poor crowd management and safety lapses.
In July last year, up to 121 people were killed in Hathras town of the northern Uttar Pradesh state during a Hindu religious gathering.
Another 112 people died in 2016 after a huge explosion caused by a banned fireworks display marking the Hindu New Year at a temple in the southern Kerala state.
