Chennai/Hyderabad/Kumily (Kerala): At least 29 devotees from Tamil Nadu and 20 from Andhra Pradesh were among those killed in the stampede near the Sabarimala temple in Kerala a day earlier, officials said on Saturday.
Seven people, six from Tamil Nadu and one from Andhra Pradesh, have been admitted to the Theni Medical College Hospital, near Kerala border.
According to officials of the Kerala government and Kumily police station near Sabarimala, 29 people from Tamil Nadu lost their lives in the Friday night stampede.
Speaking to IANS, an official said post-mortem examinations of all the bodies were yet to be completed. Some bodies have been taken away by their relatives after autopsy.
The stampede in Kerala's Idduki district occurred around 8 p.m. on Friday when the pilgrims were returning after watching the Makara Jyothi light, the most important event of the pilgrimage, from a hillock some 30 km from the Sabarimala temple.
According to the officials, the toll in the stampede was 102. Earlier, the figure was given out as 104. Of these, 74 victims have been identified.
The number of dead from other states is as follows: Kerala - 3, Karnataka - 25. A devotee from Sri Lanka was also killed in the stampede.
The hospital is located around 140 km from Sabarimala and 500 km from Chennai.
The hospital phone number is: 04546-243602.
The seven injured men are: Jagannathan (51), Chinnasamy (30) and Sarvanan (22) from Dharmapuri; Saravanan (30) and Dinesh Kumar (27) from Coimbatore; Ramalingam (37) from Tiruttani; and Ramesh (27) from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi expressed condolences to the families of those killed in the incident and announced a compensation of Rs.100,000 each to the kin of those killed from Tamil Nadu and Rs.25,000 for those injured.
Information about the incident and victims can be obtained on telephone numbers: 04869-222049 and 04869-253456.
Five pilgrims from Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh were killed in the tragedy while three people from Krishna district also lost their lives. Two devotees each from Srikakulam, Medak and Nalgonda district were also crushed to death. Six victims belonged to six other districts.
The Andhra government has opened a special helpline at the state secretariat here to provide information about the people from the state who were killed or injured in the tragedy.
The helpline numbers in Andhra Pradesh are 040-23452888 and 9010204277.
Endowments Minister J. Krishna Rao said the bodies were likely to be flown to Chennai or Hyderabad and that the state government would make all arrangements to send the bodies of the victims to their native places. He said he was in touch with the authorities in Kerala and was gathering all details.
Chief Minister Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy, Leader of Opposition Nara Chandrababu Naidu and others have expressed shock over the stampede and conveyed their heartfelt sympathies to the families of the victims.
The chief minister directed the officials to provide all necessary assistance to the families of the victims.
The festivities of 'Sankranti' turned into gloom for the families of the victims after the shocking news reached them. Chirala town in Prakasam district plunged into gloom. Wailing women and other relatives were seen at the houses of the victims.
A father and a son from Gajwel town in Medak district were also among the victims. Ramachandram, who hails from Tamil Nadu but was settled in Gajwel for the past three decades, had gone to Sabrimala for the 18th time while this was first pilgrimage for his son Arun.
Their relatives said the stampede Friday night occurred when the pilgrims were returning after watching the Makara Jyothi light from a hillock 30 km away from Sabarimala, the most important event of the pilgrimage.
Hundreds of people from the state go to Sabrimala every year for three-month-long pilgrim season at the mountain shrine.
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