9 individuals have died in a crowd surge at a well-liked Hindu temple in southern India, authorities have mentioned.
Dozens of others have been injured within the crush on the Swamy Venkateswara Temple, the place hundreds of devotees had gathered to mark a sacred day within the Hindu calendar.
Regardless of having a most capability of three,000, the gang on the temple swelled to round 25,000 on Saturday.
In accordance with an preliminary investigation, an iron grille meant to keep up the queue of worshippers on the temple broke, resulting in an uncontrolled surge of individuals, a senior police officer mentioned.
Senior native authorities official Swapnil Dinkar Pundkar mentioned extra casualties have been feared.
“Initially, we had reports of seven deaths, but two more people have succumbed to their injuries, while the condition of two others is critical,” he mentioned.
Among the many lifeless are eight ladies and a toddler.
Video footage on native media confirmed individuals dashing to assist those that fainted within the crowd surge and have been gasping for breath.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was amongst those that expressed grief within the aftermath of the incident.
