Andhra Pradesh Revenue Minister Anagani Satya Prasad said, "We cannot replace life with anything else but we will support the families. We have announced Rs 25 lakh (compensation for families of victims). Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu will arrive here in half an hour. He will talk to the injured people."

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Board Member Bhanu Prakash Reddy confirmed that 30 people injured in the stampede at the Tirupati temple were out of danger after being admitted to SVIMS Tirupati.

"There are 30 people who are admitted to SVIMS Tirupati, they are out of danger. We have talked to the medical team," said Reddy. He also mentioned that both the Chief Minister and the state's Health Minister are on their way to Tirupati to oversee the situation.

Regarding accountability over the incident, Reddy said, "If there is involvement of any officer in all this, we will take strict action against him once we get the report. We will not spare anyone."

Reddy apologised on behalf of the TTD for the incident, stating, "I am sorry on behalf of TTD for such an incident. No such incidents will ever happen in future." He added that the management is committed to ensuring safety measures are put in place to prevent similar incident

When Venkatesh, his wife Shanthi and their son left their Visakhapatnam home for Tirupati, they were excited about the grand 'darshan' at the temple on the occasion of Vaikuntha Ekadashi. Little did they know this would be their last trip together.

The family was among the hundreds who had queued near the Vishnu Niwasam to collect tokens for the special 'darshan'. Six people were killed and over 40 injured in the stampede that followed hours later. Shanthi was among the dead.

This morning, Venkatesh stood outside Sri Venkateswara Ramnarayan Ruia Government General Hospital, crushed by the tragedy.

"The police management was very poor. My wife was ahead in the queue. We did not even realise that she had fallen. After the stampede, we desperately looked for her at hospitals, but we could not locate her. We found out about her death from a viral video," he told NDTV.

Complaints by the devotees at Tirupati ranged from long waiting hours to get tickets for Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam to sudden opening of the gates that prompted the crowd to surge ahead.

"For five minutes we thought all of us were dead. I have been coming to the temple for the past 25 years and it has never happened like this," D Venkata Lakshmi told a news channel.

She said six boys pulled her aside and gave some water to drink.

"Though I was raising a hue and cry that I was falling on the side, people were still rushing from behind and could not be controlled. I don't know if they were pushing ahead, but the men were uncontrollable. People were walking over devotees. I could not even breathe for a long time," she said.

Further, had the police allowed devotees to proceed in an orderly way, this disaster could have been averted, she said.

A woman who went to Tirupati with 20 family members said the stampede broke out due to the overwhelming crush of pilgrims when the police opened the gates for token distribution. There was no such system for obtaining tokens earlier, she said.

The woman - six of her family members were injured - claimed that a large number of men rushed for tokens, which caused injuries to several women.

"A stampede occurred due to the heavy rush. As soon as the Police officials opened the gate, the pilgrims rushed to purchase tokens," she told reporters.

"We joined the queue at 11 AM. While we were waiting in the queue, we were given milk and biscuits. However, a large number of male pilgrims rushed for tokens, causing injuries to several women, who were then shifted to the hospital," she added.

Andhra Pradesh's Minister of Endowments Anam Ramanarayana Reddy has rushed to Tirupati from Amaravati after the stampede incident. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has ordered his administration to provide immediate relief measures to the victims and supervise the situation personally.