Survivors of the Venkateswara Swamy temple tragedy in Kasibugga town of Srikakulam district have blamed the use of a single narrow gate for both entry and exit, weak infrastructure, and complete lack of crowd control for the stampede-like situation that killed nine devotees and injured several others on Saturday.

According to a PTI report, devotees said chaos broke out when the only gate was suddenly opened, allowing those who had completed their darshan to exit even as another wave of worshippers tried to enter. The resulting crush caused people to fall over one another, and a weak steel grill gave way, trapping several devotees underneath.

“The approach to the temple is very narrow. There were many people and only a single entry and exit point. As people jostled, we fell down. The st

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