At least nine people were crushed to death on Saturday after a massive crowd at a Hindu temple in Andhra Pradesh, southern India, state officials said.
The stampede occurred as worshipers thronged the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in the town of Srikakulam on Ekadashi, a day Hindus consider auspicious, said Pawan Kalyan, the state’s deputy chief minister.
“An investigation will be carried out into the tragic incident,” Kalyan said in a statement, adding that the temple was run by private individuals. He estimated the death toll at nine.
Andhra Pradesh Governor S. Abdul Nazeer expressed his “deep grief over the death of nine pilgrims in the stampede.”
As many as 25,000 devotees thronged the temple, which can only seat about 2,000, causing a crush, state minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy added, while district officials have been asked to provide medical aid to the injured.
A total of 18 injuries have been reported so far, Srikakulam district collector and magistrate Swapnil Dinkar Pundkar said, while two seriously injured patients were shifted to a tertiary hospital for treatment.
The government will pay compensation of $2,300 to the families of the dead and $570 to the injured, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X.
Modi expressed his condolences to those who “have lost their loved ones.” “I pray that the injured recover soon,” Modi added.
Deadly stampedes and gathering crowds are common at large Indian religious gatherings and festivals.
In September, at least 36 people died after a stampede broke out at a campaign rally for popular actor-turned-politician Vijay in Tamil Nadu state.
And in June, a sudden rush of people at a Hindu festival in the coastal state of Odisha caused a stampede that killed at least three people and injured several others.
The previous month, six people were crushed to death in the western state of Goa after thousands gathered for a popular firewalking ritual.
In January, at least 30 people died in an early morning crush at the Kumbh Mela, a Hindu mega-festival in the northern city of Prayagraj.
