Survivors blame poor management, narrow gate for Andhra temple tragedy

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Survivors of the Venkateswara Swamy temple tragedy in Srikakulam district blamed the use of a singe narrow gate for both entry and exit and the lack of crowd management, which resulted in a stampede-like situation that killed nine people and injured several others on Saturday.

At least nine devotees--eight women and a boy--were killed at the temple in Kasibugga town. Many sustained injuries or suffered breathlessness and were admitted to local hospitals. According to the survivors, chaos broke out when the only fate was abruptly opened, allowing those who had compeleted their darshan to come out, while another group waiting below tried to enter. This resulted in people falling on one another and a weak steel grill gave way, trapping many devotees underneath. The approach to the temple is narrow. There were many people and only single entry and exit point. As people jostled, we fell down. The steel grill was also very weak. The grill people were holding onto broke and everybody fell, an autorickhaw driver, who survived the accident, told media.

He said around 20 devotees from his Dharmapuram village had travelled in two autorickshaws to the temple.

"A boy who was also standing under the grill died. He was about 12 years old... he said.

Another survivor, a woman undergoing treatment at the hospital, said the temple management first allowed some people for darshan and closed the gate ,and then suddenly reopened it. Opening the gate at once led to those coming out pushing against us, she said adding she fell down and three people fell on her. A second male survivor said so many devotees were pushing against the closed gate. Then the door opened suddenly from the other side. Those returning came down with force. Because of their pressure, the people standing by the door and on the staircase could not stand. They all fell over one another, he said. He said the tragedy could have been averted if separate routes had been arranged for entry and exit. "There were provisions, but they did not use it."  A woman who broke her legs in the incident, said she visited the temple for auspicious 'Ekadasi' day.

As people fell on me, my leg got stuck in a rod and broke... My husband is a kidney patient undergoing dialysis and now this has happened, said the woman, breaking down. Another woman from Tekkali mandal, attending to her injured husband at the hospital, said devotees are also to blame for the tragedy. We saw the crowd and went ahead. But the temple authorities should have stopped us, she said.

Criticising the poor arrangements at the temple, she said even basic facilities like drinking water were not available. This is very unfortunate. We go to see God to seek blessings. Had the police been deployed this might have been prevented, she added. Meanwhile, a doctor treating the injured said nearly 30 people were admitted. Most came with injuries and breathlessness. Many with broken limbs. We gave first aid to all of them, he said.