Temple stampede in India’s Andhra Pradesh kills at least 9

At least nine people have been killed and others have been hurt in a stampede at a temple in the state of Andhra Pradesh in southern India, according to officials.

On Saturday, worshippers gathered inside the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Kasibuga to watch a Hindu religious ceremony.

The deputy chief minister of the state, Pawan Kalyan, declared that the tragic incident would be the subject of an investigation and that nine people would perish.

Eight women and a young boy are among the deceased. At least one more person suffered serious injuries.

Nearly 25, 000 people gathered at the venue, which the temple was unable to handle, according to local officials and the media.

No separate entry and exit points were established, and a reportedly chaotic situation occurred when a railing collapsed as devotees attempted to climb the atop the first-floor temple building.

According to local authorities, the temple is run by individuals rather than the endowments department. They claimed it was unable to obtain the required official approvals because it had not applied for or secured them, and that the authorities had not been made aware of the situation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office claimed that the stampede had caused him to be “pained.”

The deceased’s families will receive 200, 000 Indian rupees (roughly $2, 260), while the injured will receive 50, 000 rupees ($565) each.

Andhra Pradesh’s chief minister Chandrababu Naidu made a strict promise to punish those responsible for the stampede at a local political gathering.

The stampede on Saturday is not a one-time incident; many incidents, including those at temples, have already occurred in 2025.

At least 39 people were killed in a crowd-crushing incident at a rally for an influential Indian actor-turned-politician in Tamil Nadu in late September, but these tragedies don’t stop at religious gatherings.