Tirupati, Jan 9: Six devotees including five women were killed and 29 others were injured in stampedes at three places during the sale of Tirumala temple darshan tickets in Tirupati on Wednesday night.

The incident occurred at three places where Vaikunta Dwara Darshan tickets were to be issued from Thursday morning.

Large number of devotees had gathered to stand in queues for special darshan tickets, leading to the stampede. Five women were among the devotees killed in the incident.

As many as 29 devotees were injured. They were shifted to Ruia and SVIMS hospitals.

The death toll may go up. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs of the famous Tirumala temple, had announced that special darshan tickets will be issued at 94 counters at nine places in Tirupati from 5 a.m. on Thursday.

However, large number of devotees started gathering since Wednesday evening.

There were chaos when devotees were allowed at the counters. They pushed each other to surge forward, resulting in the stampede.

According to officials, there was stampede at Srinivasam, Bairagipatteda and Satyanarayanapuram.

Police and TTD officials rushed to the spot and launched rescue and relief operations. The TTD was planning to issue 1.20 lakh tokens on Thursday morning for Vaikunta Dwara Darshan on January 10, 11 and 12.

Tirupati district Collector Venkateshwar and TTD Executive Officer Shyamala Rao rushed to Ruia Hospital Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan have expressed shock over the death of four devotees in the stampede.

The Chief Minister said in a statement that he was pained over the incident. He spoke to officials over phone and directed them to ensure best treatment to those injured.

The Chief Minister asked senior officials to visit the scene and undertake relief operations.

He was in touch with the district officials and TTD authorities to monitor the situation.

Former Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has also expressed shock over the death of four devotees in the stampede.

--IANS

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