Devotees were seen rushing to administer CPR to those who fainted in the Venkateswara Swamy temple stampede in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday. At least 10 people have died and the toll is expected to rise as several injured who are currently undergoing treatment are said to be critical.
Follow live updates of the stampede here.
Videos coming from the temple stampede in Andhra Pradesh's Kasibugga showed people rushing helping those who fainted in the crowd crush. In some videos, people are also seen helping each other by removing them from the crowd.
Disturbing visuals surfaced on the internet following the stampede, showing people stuck on the rails of a narrow passage, trying to escape the stampede. Several women were seen carrying puja baskets while yelling and screaming for help during the incident.
A crowd surge on the occasion of Ekadashi festival led to chaos at the Venkateswara Swamy temple causing a stampede.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the incident and said that he is “pained” by the stampede and offered condolences to those “who have lost their near and dear ones", according to a statement by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). He added, “I pray that the injured recover soon.” He announced an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh each from the PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of those who lost their lives, and the injured would be given Rs. 50,000.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the incident and said that he is “pained” by the stampede and offered condolences to those “who have lost their near and dear ones", according to a statement by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). He added, “I pray that the injured recover soon.” He announced an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh each from the PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of those who lost their lives, and the injured would be given Rs. 50,000.
{{/usCountry}}Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu expressed “shock” at the incident and condoled the deaths of the devotees. “The stampede incident at the Venkateswara Temple in Kashibugga in Srikakulam district has caused a shock. The death of devotees in this tragic incident is extremely heartbreaking. I express my deepest condolences to the families of the deceased,” Naidu said in a post on X.
The tragic stampede has triggered a political blame-game with former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy blaming the Naidu government for the lapses leading to such situations,
In a statement, cited by news agency ANI, Reddy recalled that similar incidents had occurred in the past, including the deaths of six devotees during Vaikuntha Ekadasi in Tirupati and seven more at the Simhachalam temple.
He said that despite repeated tragedies, the state government had failed to take adequate precautions. “This repeated loss of innocent lives reflects the inefficiency of Chandrababu Naidu’s administration,” Reddy said, ANI reported.
He urged the government to take “serious corrective measures” to prevent such incidents in the future.