Tirupati: Early on Thursday morning, Venkayya Chowdary, Additional Executive Officer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), went to the Sri Venkateswara Ramnarayan Ruia Government General Hospital in Tirupati to visit with the people hurt in the terrible stampede that occurred in Andhra Pradesh the day before. There were also six fatalities.

As shown in the images, Chowdhury engaged with both patients and physicians throughout the visit.

“Overcrowding” was cited by TTD Chairman BR Naidu as the reason for the stampede.

Bhanu Prakash Reddy, a member of the TTD Board, had stated, “We opened 91 counters to distribute tokens for ‘Ekadasi Darshan.'” It is regrettable that a rush occurred. 40 devotees were injured in the rush, and six of them lost their lives. We are giving them the finest medical care available. In the history of TTD, this has never occurred. I humbly ask the devotees to apologize. We will investigate and take significant measures. The chief minister and the state health minister will go to Tirupati tomorrow morning, January 9.

Later in the day, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu, who expressed his condolences for the fatalities after the event, is scheduled to visit with the relatives of the departed.

When ‘darshan’ tokens were being distributed at Vishnu Niwasam, near the Tirumala Srivari Vaikuntha Dwara ticketing office, a rush broke out, resulting in up to six fatalities and several injuries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said earlier on Wednesday that the state administration is doing all it can to help the victims of the catastrophe and expressed his profound sadness over the deaths.

The Tirumala Sri Venkateswara Temple will host the Vaikunta Dwara Darshan from January 10 to 19. It enables followers to enter the hallowed gate and get the blessings of Lord Venkateswara.

The TTD said that nine token distribution centers will be established in Tirupati and that offline tokens for Darshan would be distributed starting today.

Devotees from all over the nation had been flocking to the centers since Wednesday morning to pick up tokens, but by the end of the day, there were a significant number of people there, causing traffic in those regions.