Temple tragedies kill 22, injure nearly 100 across Andhra in 2025

Andhra Pradesh has witnessed three major temple-related accidents in 2025, leaving 22 people dead and nearly 100 injured, with the latest incident at the Venkateswara temple in Kasibugga town, Srikakulam district, claiming nine lives on Saturday.

The Kasibugga tragedy occurred when a staircase railing collapsed amid a dense crowd, causing devotees to fall on each other. Over two dozen people were injured, officials said. Videos from the site showed chaos as emergency teams and locals rushed to pull victims from the packed stairway.

The incident follows two earlier fatalities-heavy mishaps at prominent temple sites this year:

• Simhachalam, Visakhapatnam (April 2025): Seven devotees died when a rain-soaked wall collapsed at the Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple.

• Tirupati (January 2025): Six devotees were killed and almost 40 injured in a stampede at Bairagi Patteda, where crowds had gathered for Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam tickets for the Sri Venkateswara Temple on Tirumala hills.

A devastating week for the state

The latest accident comes at the end of a bruising week for Andhra Pradesh, where multiple crises have converged:

• A bus inferno in Kurnool district left 19 people dead

• Cyclone ‘Montha’ caused an estimated ₹5,244-crore economic loss, damaging homes, infrastructure and crops

• Fresh deaths from the Kasibugga temple mishap pushed the state’s casualty count higher

Officials said the last week of October into early November has been one of the state’s most difficult periods in recent years, marked by natural disasters, mass-casualty accidents, and continuing relief efforts across coastal and inland districts.

State response and safety concerns

Authorities have called for crowd-management audits at major temples and public-gathering sites. Senior officials said a review of structural safety protocols, especially at heritage and high-footfall pilgrimage centres, would be undertaken.

Disaster-management teams remain deployed across districts hit by Cyclone Montha, while police and fire officials are assisting temple boards in crowd-control planning.

Experts say rising pilgrimage footfall, combined with seasonal festival peaks and weather-related structural vulnerabilities, underscores the need for tight regulation, real-time crowd monitoring, and mandatory safety checks at all major shrines.