Tirupati stampede survivors recount horror: ’Could not breathe for long time,’ other say, ’police opened gates suddenly’
Live MintTirupati stampede: In a shocking incident, six people lost their lives when a crowd went out of control during 'darshan' token distribution near Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh on January 8. Now, survivors of the deadly stampede at have shared their ordeal, with complaints ranging from long waiting hours to sudden opening of the gates that prompted the crowd to surge ahead. Tirupati Stampede LIVE Here's what they said One devotee, named, D Venkata Lakshmi expressed shock and said that she has been visiting Tirupati for the last 25 years and nothing like this happened before. One male devotee complained about the police management and said that they were told about the presence of 5,000 devotees, however, he claimed that police opened the gates suddenly, leading to the stampede.