A woman devotee who was visiting Tirumala temple complex in Andhra Pradesh along with a family member sustained critical injuries after a tree branch fell on her inside the temple premises Friday. The incident, which was caught on camera by another devotee, occurred at Japali Theertham, a sacred waterbody within the temple premises.
The video footage showed the woman walking along with another person near the temple entrance. However, suddenly a branch from a nearby tree broke off and fell on her, causing serious injuries. Temple staff immediately rushed her to the hospital.
Sources told India Today that the woman suffered a spinal cord injury and is currently undergoing treatment. The condition of the devotee is being closely monitored, and medical staff are providing all necessary care to ensure her recovery.
The incident has raised concerns about the safety measures in place within the temple complex.
Last year, a centuries-old tree collapsed in front of the Sri Govindaraja Swamy temple in Tirupati, resulting in the death of one person and serious injuries to two others. The tree's fall was caused by heavy gales over the preceding days, as per a report on The Hindu.
As the tree began to creak, the temple elephant, which was standing beneath it, sounded an alarm. Devotees resting under the tree scattered in all directions, many unaware of the impending danger. The tree collapsed just seconds later.
Meanwhile, some YouTubers made a prank video acting like a TTD employee as if unlocking a compartment and releasing pilgrims for darshan. The passengers in the compartments stood up, expecting their compartment to be released.
Terming it as a heinous act, TTD strongly condemned the prank video taken by Tamil YouTubers which hurt the sentiments of the devotees while going for darshan in the queue line at Tirumala.