At least six people have tragically lost their lives, and several others have been injured following a deadly crowd surge at one of the most visited Hindu religious sites in Tirupati, located in India's southern Andhra Pradesh state.

The incident occurred on Wednesday night when a massive crowd gathered at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple to collect free entrance tokens for the upcoming 10-day festival. Thousands of devotees had begun arriving in the early hours of Wednesday for the festival that begins on Friday. According to reports, authorities had set up counters to distribute the tokens starting Thursday, but the crowd quickly became unruly, leading to a deadly crush.

Prem Kumar Jain, a spokesman for the state’s ruling Telugu Desam Party, confirmed the deaths and expressed his condolences, saying, “The unfortunate incident … has claimed the lives of six devotees. I pray to God to give peace to the departed souls.” Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu, expressed his grief over the tragedy, noting the intense emotional toll the deaths had caused. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also conveyed his condolences, offering his thoughts to the families of those who lost loved ones in the incident.

Tragic accidents at places of worship during religious festivals are not uncommon in India due to overcrowding, poor crowd control, and safety issues. This incident follows a history of similar events, such as the Hathras disaster in July 2023, where 121 people were killed during a religious gathering, and another tragedy in 2016 in Kerala, which saw 112 fatalities after a fireworks explosion at a temple.

The Tirupati incident occurred just days before the start of the Kumbh Mela, one of the largest Hindu festivals in the world, where millions of pilgrims are expected to gather for prayer and sacred bathing.

Disclaimer:This image is taken from PTI.