Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed his condolences over the loss of lives in the Tirupati stampede that occurred in Andhra Pradesh the previous day.
“Deeply saddened by the tragic #stampede at #Tirupati, which has claimed innocent lives, including those from Tamil Nadu. My heartfelt condolences to the families who lost their loved ones in this unfortunate incident. Wishing the injured a swift recovery,” Stalin said in a condolence message shared on the social media platform X on Thursday.
Deeply saddened by the tragic #stampede at #Tirupati, which has claimed innocent lives, including those from Tamil Nadu. My heartfelt condolences to the families who lost their loved ones in this unfortunate incident. Wishing the injured a swift recovery.#TirupatiStampede
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) January 9, 2025
The incident, which took place on Wednesday night during ticket distribution, claimed six lives and left 40 others injured.
Addressing the tragedy, Andhra Pradesh Revenue Minister Anagani Satya Prasad said, “We cannot replace life with anything else but we will support the families. We have announced Rs 25 lakhs…”
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu convened a review meeting on Thursday and is expected to meet the families of the victims later in the day.
Tirupati Collector S Venkateswar assured the public that sufficient arrangements are in place for the upcoming Vaikunth Ekadasi festival, set to begin on Friday. The Vaikunta Dwara Darshan, held at the Tirumala Sri Venkateswara Temple from January 10 to 19, allows devotees to pass through the sacred gate to receive blessings from Lord Venkateswara.
“Elaborate arrangements have been made for Vaikunth Ekadasi this year by TTD and the District Administration. A sufficient number of Police personnel were deployed at all the ticket counters (9) in Tirupati and (1) in Tirumala. We kept holding areas as well. At this particular location, there was some miscommunication over the opening of the gate. An unfortunate incident occurred,” Venkateswar explained to reporters.
Offline tokens for darshan have also been made available at various distribution centers set up in Tirupati.
