Tirupati: 3 injured in stampede-like situation at Tirumala shrine
Highlights
- The incident occurred after a large crowd of pilgrims gathered at the Sarvadarshan ticket counter
- TTD PRO Ravi Kumar said the situation is normal now
- TTD had decided to allow pilgrims directly into the compartments of Tirumala, Kumar said
At least three people were injured after a stampede-like situation was reported at the Tirumala shrine in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. According to the details, the incident occurred after a large crowd of pilgrims gathered at the Sarvadarshan ticket counter in the shrine.
Commenting on the incident, TTD PRO Ravi Kumar said the situation is normal now.
"There was a huge rush at three token counters in Tirupati. However, looking at the rush, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) decided to allow pilgrims directly into the compartments of Tirumala for darshan," Kumar said.
"The situation is normal now," he added.
In February this year, the TTD had decided to raise the number of Slotted Sarva Darshan (SSD) tokens and the tickets issued for darshan of Lord Venkateswara, in the wake of a decline in the number of COVID-19 cases across the country. The TTD had released additional 13,000 tickets for the period February 24-28.
In addition, 5000 offline SSD tokens were also released at various centers, including the Srinivasam Complex, Sri Govindaraja Swamy Choultries, and Bhudevi Complex.
On Sunday, Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot had paid obeisance and offered prayers to Lord Venkateshwara at Tirumala Hills in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.
The Governor was accompanied by officials, his office said.
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