At least six people lost their lives and several others were injured during a stampede at a Hindu religious gathering in India, officials confirmed on Thursday.

The tragedy occurred on Wednesday at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. A massive crowd had assembled to collect entrance tokens for the temple visit when chaos broke out.

“The unfortunate incident claimed the lives of six devotees. I pray to God for peace to the departed souls,” Prem Kumar Jain, a spokesperson for the ruling Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh, said while addressing the media.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to the grieving families, stating on social media platform X: “My thoughts are with those who have lost their near and dear ones.”

Deadly stampedes are not uncommon at religious gatherings in India, often resulting from inadequate crowd control and safety measures.

In July last year, a similar tragedy in Uttar Pradesh claimed 121 lives during a Hindu religious gathering. In 2016, 112 people were killed in Kerala when a banned fireworks display during the Hindu New Year celebrations led to a devastating explosion.

This week’s incident comes just days ahead of the Kumbh Mela, a six-week-long Hindu festival of prayer and sacred bathing. Organisers expect it to be the largest religious gathering in history, with up to 400 million pilgrims anticipated to attend.