TTD refutes reports on boy’s death; says stampede is fake news

Says the 16-year-old boy who fell unconscious was immediately administered CPR and then hospitalised

TIRUMALA: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has refuted reports on a boy’s death allegedly due to a stampede at the Annaprasadam Bhavan and asserted that it was fake news.

Addressing a press conference at Tirumala on Tuesday evening, TTD Additional EO Ch Venkaiah Chowdary said a 16-year-old boy Sri Manjunatha from Madikeri, Karnataka fell unconscious after he ran up the ramp at Matrusri Tarigonda Vengamamba Annaprasada Bhavanam (MTVAC) in Tirumala on February 22 evening.

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The staff on duty immediately administered CPR and admitted the boy to Ashini Hospital in Tirumala. Subsequently, the boy was shifted to the SVIMS Super Specialty Hospital in a TTD ambulance to Tirupati upon the doctors’ advice for better treatment. Unfortunately, the boy breathed his last on Tuesday, he said.

“In fact, the boy was suffering from a chronic heart disease since he was nine years old. He also underwent treatment for the same at Jayadev Hospital in Bengaluru,” Venkaiah Chowdary said.

Even the boy’s father had asked for his son’s body without postmortem stating that he died due a chronic heart problem. Without checking the facts, a media channel reported that the boy had died due to a stampede in Annaprasada Bhavanam at Tirumala, which was not true, the Additional EO said.

Everything was recorded in 3,000 surveillance cameras set up across Tirumala. One can see the visuals of the boy collapsing at MTVAC in the surveillance cameras, the Additional EO said, displaying the visuals to media personnel.