A woman who went to Tirupati with 20 family members said the stampede broke out due to the overwhelming crush of pilgrims when the police opened the gates for token distribution. There was no such system for obtaining tokens earlier, she said.
The woman – six of her family members were injured – claimed that a large number of men rushed for tokens, which caused injuries to several women.
“A stampede occurred due to the heavy rush. As soon as the Police officials opened the gate, the pilgrims rushed to purchase tokens,” she told reporters.
“We joined the queue at 11 AM. While we were waiting in the queue, we were given milk and biscuits. However, a large number of male pilgrims rushed for tokens, causing injuries to several women, who were then shifted to the hospital,” she added.