3 killed in stampede at Chandrababu Naidu's event in Andhra Pradesh

In Andhra Pradesh, three people died while several were injured in a public gathering held by Telugu Desam Party president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s in Guntur district on Sunday, days after a stampede-like situation killed eight people in one of his other rally in Nellore.

“Three people died and several were injured during a public meeting held by TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu in Guntur district,” news agency ANI reported quoting Arif Hafeez, superintendent of police, Guntur.

The incident happened during the distribution of clothes and gifts. After Naidu left the place, the people rushed to collect gifts but the organisers could not control the crowd, leading to a stampede-like situation.

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In his earlier rally in Nellore, thousands of people and TDP workers had gathered in the district's Kandukuru town when the incident happened around 8 pm on Wednesday. Following the incident, the TDP leader had immediately stopped his speech and rushed to the hospital to call on the victims.

The Nellore deaths also triggered a political war of words between the ruling YSR Congress party and the TDP which is in opposition. Several YSRC leaders blamed the former CM for the tragedy, while the TDP president had said, “it was the responsibility of the local police to take precautionary measures”.