Tirupati stampede: Indian temple apologizes after six die in stampede

B. R. Naidu, chairman of the temple trust, said the stampede was due to “overcrowding”.

“This is an unfortunate incident,” he told local media on Wednesday.

Bhanu Prakash Reddy, a board member of the trust, apologized for the incident.

“We opened 91 counters to distribute tokens… it’s unfortunate that there was a stampede,” he said. “This has never happened in the history of the temple. I sincerely apologize to the devotees.”

Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu expressed regret over the incident and is scheduled to visit the temple later on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “pained” by the incident and assured the victims that the state government would offer them “all possible assistance”.

The Tirupati Temple in Andhra Pradesh is one of the holiest shrines in Hinduism. The temple, dedicated to the Hindu god Sri Venkateswara, known as Balaji, has tens of billions of dollars in assets and is one of the richest in India.

It attracts nearly 24 million devotees from India and abroad every year.

His 10-day Vaikuntha Dwara Darshan is considered a very auspicious event by devotees as they believe they will be able to see the divine gates of heaven.

Millions of people visit the festival every year, with attendance reaching two to three million on some days.

On Wednesday, thousands of people gathered to get tickets for the festival, which starts on January 10, at more than 90 ticket counters set up outside the temple.

When the gates to the counters opened, thousands of people rushed to the counters, leading to chaos, an eyewitness said Times of India newspaper, externaladding that there were only four policemen there.

Several reports said that the police had a hard time controlling the crowd.

Authorities report that the victims of the collision were taken to a state hospital for medical treatment.

Accidents are regularly reported during religious events in India as huge crowds gather in cramped spaces without safety precautions.

Last year, more than 120 people were hacked to death during a religious event in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.