Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], January 9 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin announced financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the family of a victim who died during a stampede at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday.
CM MK Stalin also condoled the loss of lives in the incident.
"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 in a post on social media platform X on Thursday.
A statement said, "Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin announces consolation and financial assistance of Rs 2 lakhs to the family of a person from Salem district who died in a stampede at the Tirumala Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh"
Six people were killed after a stampede broke out at Tirupati on Wednesday night during the ticket distribution. 40 others were also injured in the mishap.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Revenue Minister Anagani Satya Prasad told reporters, "We cannot replace life with anything else but we will support the families. We have announced Rs 25 lakhs... "
Tirupati Collector S Venkateswar informed that adequate arrangements are in place ahead of the Vaikunth Ekadasi which gets underway on Friday. Vaikunta Dwara Darshan is scheduled to be held at the Tirumala Sri Venkateswara Temple from January 10 to 19. It allows devotees to pass through the sacred gate to receive Lord Venkateswara's blessings.
"...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 told reporters here.
Meanwhile, the offline tokens for darshan have been made available at various distribution centres set up in Tirupati.