Vishakhapatnam: The Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday announced Rs 25 lakh compensation for the families of those who died in a stampede at the Vaikuntha Ekadashi Darshan Token Issuance Center on Wednesday night. A team of ministers also visited Tirupati to meet the victims’ families. They also assured them of the government’s support.
On Thursday morning, Home Minister Anitha, Revenue Minister Angani Satya Prasad, Endowments Minister Anam Rama Narayana Reddy, and other senior officials inspected the bodies at Ruia Hospital and met the grieving families. They gathered details about the victims. They also announced a thorough probe into the matter. They said strict action would be taken against staff found negligent. The CCTV footage from the token issuance centers is being reviewed.
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu called the stampede ‘unfortunate.’ He stated that measures would be implemented to avoid such tragedies in the future. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also paid his condolences to the relatives of the deceased.
“The death of several devotees in a stampede near Vishnu Niwasam in Tirupati for tokens to visit Tirumala Srivari Vaikuntha Dwara has shocked me. This tragic incident, which took place at a time when devotees had gathered in large numbers for tokens, deeply disturbed me. In the wake of information that the condition of some of them is critical, I have directed higher officials to go to the spot and take relief measures… to provide better medical treatment to the injured and save their lives. I am talking to the district and TTD officials from time to time and am taking stock of the situation,” Naidu wrote on X.
At least six people lost their lives in the stampede. Several others were injured in a stampede near Vaikuntha Dwara Darshan ticketing centers in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, reports claimed that five of the six victims of the stampede at Turipati were women. They were mothers who had gone with their families, hoping to have darshan of Lord Venkateshwara during the auspicious Vaikunta Ekadasi. They were part of a large group of devotees who had gone to Tirupati on Tuesday. Three were from Visakhapatnam and identified as Lavanya Swati (37) of Thatichetlapalem, Kandipilli Santhi (35) of Kancharapalem, and Rajini (47) of Maddilapalem.
