Nov. 1 (UPI)— At least nine people were killed and more than 25 injured in a stampede at a private Hindu temple in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday morning.
The stampede occurred as around 25,000 devotees thronged the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Srikakulam district on Ekadashi, a holy festival. On Saturday there are usually 3,000 parishioners, The Times of India reports this..
Among the dead were eight women and one boy, two of the wounded were in critical condition.
“The heavy influx of devotees led to overcrowding, resulting in many devotees being injured and immediately rushed to nearby hospitals,” the official said. according to Xinhua.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has ordered an inquiry into what happened at the 12-acre temple.
The organizers did not inform the police in advance, which prevented adequate security, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said: according to News 18network co-owned by CNN.
The government will pay $2,500 to the families of the dead and $563 to the families of the injured, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, noting that he was “pained by the stampede.”
Ekadashi means “11” in English and corresponds to the 11th day of every two weeks of the Hindu lunar calendar. During the festival, devotees fast and offer prayers to Lord Vishnu.
It was third stampede this year in India.
On April 30, seven people were killed and six injured when a newly constructed, rain-soaked wall of the Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple at the Simhachalam Temple in Visakhapatnam collapsed.
On January 6, six people were killed and several others were injured in a stampede in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh at a counter where tickets were being distributed for a special event in Lord VenkateshwaAra Temple in Tirumala.
