Tirupati stampede: timeline of events
Tirupati: At least six people were killed and several others injured late on Wednesday in a stampede after thousands of devotees queued to collect tokens.
Authorities had set up counters at a school to issue tokens from Thursday for devotees to visit the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple during January 10-19, a period considered auspicious by the locals.
Timeline of events leading to the stampede
10:00 AM: Devotees reached the counter set up at Ramanaidu School. They were allowed inside Sri Padmavati Park.
2:00 PM: Police were deployed to regulate the crowd at the park.
7:00 PM: The park was completely filled with devotees, and there was no space to move. Drinking water was provided to the devotees.
8:20 PM: The influx of devotees increased, and they were allowed to approach the counter. During this process, devotees began jostling, which led to a stampede. A few people fell, and others started running over them.
8:40 PM: Ambulances arrived and transported the injured to RIUA and SWIMS. Upon receiving the information, SP Subbaraidu and his team arrived at the spot to assist.
9:27 PM: TTD EO Shayama Rao and JEO Veera Brahmam reached the spot and gathered details from the police regarding the stampede.
9:30 PM: Devotees were allowed into queues for the counters.