Overview
- The state confirmed nine fatalities and at least 15 injured after a surge on steps at Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Kasibugga, with three patients reported critical.
- Police cited an iron grill failure and a single entry–exit route on a narrow staircase as key factors, with videos showing devotees trapped in a constricted passage.
- Authorities said roughly 15,000 devotees gathered at the recently built, privately managed shrine, which was not registered with the Endowments Department and had not informed police.
- An inquiry has been ordered and police have registered a case, as Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu blamed organisers for failing to coordinate crowd management.
- The Prime Minister announced ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh to next of kin and Rs 50,000 to the injured, while minister Nara Lokesh announced Rs 15 lakh for families of the dead and Rs 3 lakh for the injured.