Tirupati, Jan 9: The Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday announced compensation of Rs.25 lakh each to the families of the six devotees who died in the stampede on Wednesday night during distribution of tickets for a sacred event at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple.

Revenue minister A. Satyaprasad made the announcement after a ministerial team called on the families of the deceased at Ruia Hospital.

The delegation which included ministers Anita, Parthasarthy and Anam Ramnarayan Reddy also called on the injured at SVIMS Hospital.

The ministers termed the incident as unfortunate. They said the investigations were on to find out if the incident was a result of any hasty action or lack of coordination.

Home Minister Anita said the probe was also on to ascertain if it was an accident or a conspiracy. She said the CCTV footage would reveal whose lapses led to the tragedy.

The Home Minister said stringent action would be taken against those who were found negligent.

Steps will be taken to ensure that such incidents do not recur in future, she added.

The ministers said bodies of the victims were being sent to their respective towns after autopsy.

Three of the victims were from Visakhapatnam and one from Narsipatnam and the remaining two victims were from Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The stampede occurred near the Vishnu Nivasam temple in Tirupati, where the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) had set up counters to distribute tokens for the Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam during the annual Vaikunta Ekadashi festival that begins on January 10.

During the 10-day event, devotees are allowed a special darshan of the deity through the northern entrance.

Thousands of devotees from various states had lined up at the counters since Wednesday evening though the distribution of tokens was to start on Thursday morning.

When one of the gates was opened to assist a distressed woman, devotees surged forward leading to the stampede.

The TTD had arranged for the distribution of 1.20 lakh tokens for the first three days of the festival (January 10–12). Special counters had been set up at 94 locations in Tirupati.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will be visiting Tirupati later in the day to call on the families of the victims and visit the hospitals, where the injured were undergoing treatment.

The Chief Minister condoled the loss of lives in the tragedy and ordered an investigation.

--IANS

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