Andhra Pradesh Stampede: Nine individuals lost their lives in a tragic stampede that occurred on Saturday at Kasibugga Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Andhra Pradesh.
ANI reported that the state Minister Nara Lokesh said that an “unknown amount of rush” at Venkateswara Swamy Temple led to a “lot of suffocation” and sadly resulted in the stampede due to a lack of crowd management. He further stated that the shrine has both an entry and an exit.
“Today, being Ekadashi, like never before, pilgrims came here. They wanted to take the blessings of the Lord. This is a private temple. From morning 6 to afternoon 12, they perform darshans. Then, they take a break, and again at 3 pm, they reopen the temple. The temple has clearly 2 ways – one is entry and the other is exit,” Nara Lokesh told reporters after meeting the injured at a hospital in Srikakulam.
Nara Lokesh gave a detailed account of the events. He clarified that due to the rush at around 11:30 am, the entry was closed, and devotees attempted to use the exit route and thus caused suffocation.
The person on top of the Temple’s steps tripped and fell, leading to the tragic incident.
“At 11:30 am, because there was an unknown number of rush, the entry point was closed. Many people who attended felt that they could use the exit route. That created a lot of suffocation. The entry has steps, so the person on the top tripped and fell, which resulted in a cascading effect. Also, the queue planners were not planned for such a crowd…,” Nara Lokesh explained to reporters.
The majority of those who passed away are women, he added.
Nara Lokesh stated that he reached out to an MLA and a Minister after being alerted about the incident within five minutes.
“We have a WhatsApp group for real-time governance, which also has the disaster management minister. We reached out to the Home Minister. From there, we coordinated the entire rescue operation. We worked exceptionally hard to save as many lives as possible,” he said.
“As soon as this happened, we informed the PMO,” Nara Lokesh said. PM Modi has announced Rs 2 Lakhs ex gratia for the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the people who have had grievous injuries, Nara Lokesh added.
The Minister added that among the injured, three have been moved to a super specialty hospital, “who require a bit more critical care.”
Also Check- Andhra Pradesh Tragedy: Stampede At Venkateswara Swamy Temple, 9 Dead, Aid Announced – All You Need To Know
State Govt’s Preventive Measures For Stampede
On a query about the government taking any preventive action in the wake of the second such incident in the state, Nara Lokesh said, “If you look at the temples under Endowment, preventive action has already been taken – it could be in Tirumala, it could be in Simhachalam…This unfortunate incident has happened in a private temple, which is not under the supervision of the Endowment”.
Following the unfortunate incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex gratia of Rs. 2 lakh for the relatives of those who died and Rs. 50,000 to the injured. Andhra Pradesh Minister Nara Lokesh informed that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has also announced an ex gratia of Rs. 15 lakh for the deceased and Rs. 3 lakh for those with serious injuries.
(with ANI inputs)
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: ZEE News
