Man finds out about wife's passing at Tirupati stampede from a viral video
A tragic stampede at Tirupati's Vishnu Niwasam during Vaikuntha Ekadashi token distribution left six dead, including Shanthi, and over 40 injured. Chaos erupted when people misunderstood an official intervention for a medical emergency as token distribution.
When Venkatesh, his wife Shanthi, and their son left Visakhapatnam for Tirupati, they were looking forward to a magnificent 'darshan' at the temple on Vaikuntha Ekadashi. Little did they know that this would be their final voyage together. The family was among hundreds of people who had gathered near the Vishnu Niwasam to collect tokens for the special 'darshan'.
Woman passes away during the Tirupati stampede
At one point, one of the women in the queue for the token began to feel ill. The officials opened the door and brought her out.
The mayhem began when many in the queue assumed the gates had been unlocked for tokens and attempted to get through the door. The rush killed six people and injured more than 40.
Stampede broke out at Andhra Pradesh's Tirupati temple. 6 people died while several others injured.
¡ª Tejshree Purandare (@tejshreethought) January 8, 2025
The stampede took place in the presence of over 4,000 devotees and huge rush to get tokens for the 10-day special darshan.#stampede #tirupatidarshan pic.twitter.com/OT108MqInh
Shanthi was among the deceased. This morning, Venkatesh stood outside Sri Venkateswara Ramnarayan Ruia Government General Hospital, heartbroken by the incident.
Man found out about wife's death from viral video
"The police management was very poor. My wife was ahead in the queue. We did not even realise that she had fallen. After the stampede, we desperately looked for her at hospitals, but we could not locate her. We found out about her death from a viral video," he told NDTV.
A video of the family members grieving their loss also surfaced on social media. "Shanthi from Kancharapalem, #Visakhapatnam, lost her life in the #TirupatiStampede. She had travelled to #Tirupati with her husband Venkatesh and son when the tragedy occurred. Her family is deeply distressed by her demise," the video was captioned.
Shanthi from Kancharapalem, #Visakhapatnam, lost her life in the #TirupatiStampede. She had traveled to #Tirupati with her husband Venkatesh and son when the tragedy occurred. Her family is deeply distressed by her demise@NewIndianXpress @santwana99 @BSNMalleswarRao pic.twitter.com/B62t6WWIrV
¡ª TNIE Andhra Pradesh (@xpressandhra) January 9, 2025
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Board, which oversees temple operations, has ruled out any plot. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is likely to visit Tirupati today to assess the situation and announce compensation to the victims. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, offered his condolences.
Pained by the stampede in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. My thoughts are with those who have lost their near and dear ones. I pray that the injured recover soon. The AP Government is providing all possible assistance to those affected: PM @narendramodi
¡ª PMO India (@PMOIndia) January 8, 2025
Also read: Watch: Videos show moments of the stampede that killed six devotees in Tirupati
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