Andhra stampede tragedy: Toll rises to 8; PM Modi, CM Jagan announce ex-gratia

PTI

Amaravati, December 29

One more person who was injured in a stampede during a programme organised by the Telugu Desam Party in Kandukur town in Nellore district succumbed while undergoing treatment on Wednesday night, taking the toll to eight, police said on Thursday.

The victims, including two women, died and eight others were injured on Wednesday after they fell in a drainage canal when the Leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu was addressing a roadshow there.

People gathered in large numbers at the venue and there was some jostling among the public during the meeting, leading to a stampede at the canal, they had said based on initial information.

Some of the injured are undergoing treatment in hospital.

Naidu, who immediately cancelled the meeting, announced Rs 10 lakh to the kin of the deceased. He also visited the hospital where the injured were being treated.

He also asked the TDP leaders to ensure better medical care to the injured.

When contacted Ch.Vijaya Rao Superintendent of Police Nellore said they registered a case under Section 174 CrPC on the incident and investigation is on.

The official further said the meeting organisers took permission for only using sound system, but they took out a bike rally and parked the two-wheelers near the meeting venue causing congestion.

The deceased were identified as D Ravindra Babu, Kakumanu Raja, Y Vijaya, Marlapati Chinakotaiah, U Purushottam, Geddam Madhu, K Yanadi and Rajeshwari.

The police official said the bodies of the deceased have been handed over to the kin after postmortem.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reacting to the incident, said he was pained by the mishap and announced Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia to the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those injured.

“Pained by the mishap at a public meeting in Nellore, AP. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased and the injured would be given Rs 50,000,” PMO said in a tweet.

Similarly, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, in a statement, expressing shock over the incident, announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each to the injured.

He instructed the officials to extend necessary support to the families of the victims, the statement said.

YSR Congress Party general secretary and advisor to government (Public Affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, in a statement, blamed TDP and its chief N Chandrababu Naidu for the tragic incident.

Addressing the media today, he said Naidu “deliberately” held the rally in a narrow lane in order to capture the visuals through drone shots to show a huge crowd for his meeting, it said.

However, Naidu’s “self-promotion mission” failed miserably and led to the “murder” of eight innocent people while injuring several others, he said.

“Why is Naidu trying to pin the blame on the authorities when it is him who is behind these ‘murders’? The fact of the matter is that the opposition leader does not value lives. He is using people for personal and political gains and nothing can be worse than that. People are watching and will teach him a lesson,” he said in a statement. TDP leaders could not be reached for their comments. PTI

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