Following a crush that resulted in six fatalities and numerous injuries as people waited in line for tickets to a festival that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, one of India’s most affluent temples has issued an apology.
Following thousands of people congregating in the southern Andhra Pradesh state’s temple town of Tirupati, the tragedy happened on Wednesday night.
Images showed crowds of people squeezing together as temple officials set up stations to issue tickets.
State officials have stated that personnel of the temple who are proven to be at fault for the tragedy will face severe consequences.
The temple’s trust chairman, BR Naidu, said that “overcrowding” was to blame for the crush.
“It is an unfortunate incident,” he said Wednesday to the local media.
