Five killed, 40 injured in Chittoor stampede

Five persons including a Lankan national were killed and over 40 injured during a stampede at Kalki Bhagwan's ashram in Chittoor district, police said.

Five persons including a Lankan national were killed and over 40 injured during a stampede at Kalki Bhagwan’s ashram in Chittoor district, police said.

The stampede occurred when a large number of devotees gathered at the inaugural function of Kalki Bhagwan’s Oneness University at Vardayapalem and scrambled for having water in scorching heat on Tuesday.

The deceased are identified as Subramanyam Satirlingam, a Sri Lankan national from Jaffna, Srinivas Rao, Govindaiah and Subramanyam Satirlingam. The fifth deceased is yet to be identified.

The injured have been admitted to nearby hospitals.

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The ashram is run by Kalki Bhagwan alias V Vijay Kumar and his wife Bhagwati Amma alias V Padmavathi.

Chittoor district Superintendent of Police K Lakshmi Reddy said several devotees fainted due to heat as ashram authorities failed to provide proper facilities.

As a precautionary measure, the district administration imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 at Vardayapalem while ashram authorities have postponed the inauguration ceremony.

They also appealed to devotees not to come to the ashram in large numbers.

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Hundreds of thousands of devotees from across the country had gathered at the newly built ashram to have a darshan of Kalki Bhagwan.

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