''What should I do if so many people come at once?'' Andhra temple founder on stampede that killed 9
Kasibugga (Andhra Pradesh) (PTI): Claiming he was not responsible for the tragic stampede at Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple here that left nine devotees dead, the 94-year-old founder of the temple has said devotees rushed on their own during the gathering.
He further said he had not informed the police as he thought everything would be normal like any other day and did not expect such a big crowd on Saturday.
Nine people--eight women and a boy--were killed and many others injured in the stampede at the temple constructed by Panda on his own land, here in Srikakulam District, on Saturday.
The tragedy was worsened by the Ekadasi observance coinciding with 'Karthika Masam', drawing large crowds.
"What should I do if so many people come at once? I usually send everyone in line but yesterday there were so many people. I don't know what happened, I did not inform any police," temple priest Mukunda Panda told videos.
"I did not inform the police. I have courage, I told everyone to go in a queue line. People came for darshan — what can I do if they rushed and the situation turned like this?” temple priest Mukunda Panda asked while speaking to the media.
He further said he was there until 3 PM without having lunch even as police came and controlled the crowd.
The temple, owned by priest Mukunda Panda, was neither converted for non-agricultural use nor registered with the Endowments Department, and the organisers failed to inform local police before conducting the event, Srikakulam district superintendent of police, KV Maheshwara Reddy told PTI.
The SP said the temple organisers neither sought mandatory permissions nor applied for police protection before conducting the event.
According to the SP, the Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple is a private establishment and was operating without proper approvals. The organisers reportedly failed to comply with safety protocols. Meanwhile, police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
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Salah-less Liverpool plays Inter in Champions League. Barcelona, Bayern, Chelsea all in action
London (AP): After leaving Mohamed Salah at home, Liverpool needs to show it can win without the Egyptian forward as Arne Slot's team takes on Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday.
On a night when Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Tottenham are all in action, the focus is on Liverpool after Salah said Saturday it “seems like the club has thrown me under the bus.” Liverpool's response was to leave him out of the squad for its trip to Italy.
Liverpool's poor recent form boosts Inter's chances of picking up a fifth win in six games. A win for 13th-place Liverpool would put Slot's team back into the hunt for the top eight seedings for the knockout stages.
After losing its last Champions League game 3-0 to Chelsea, Barcelona aims to recover at home to struggling Eintracht Frankfurt. It will have to do without defender Ronald Araujo, who is suspended after his red card against Chelsea and has also been unavailable for personal reasons.
Seventh-place Chelsea is unbeaten in four Champions League games and visits Atalanta aiming to strengthen its hold on a top-eight spot offering direct entry to the round of 16. Bayern can earn its fifth win of the league stage by beating Sporting Lisbon in an early kickoff.
Tottenham, which lost 5-3 to Paris Saint-Germain last time out, has an easier task against Czech team Slavia Prague. Atletico Madrid visits PSV Eindhoven, Monaco hosts Galatasaray and Union Saint-Gilloise plays Marseille.
One game starts in an unusually early window at 1530 GMT (10:30 a.m. ET) as Kazakhstan's Kairat Almaty hosts Greece's Olympiacos.
