THOOTHUKUDI: A devotee died while waiting in a queue at the Subramaniya Swamy temple in Tiruchendur following difficulty in breathing on Sunday. Sources said the number of devotees at queues swells up during holidays.
The deceased — R Omkumar (50) from Karaikudi — had come to Tiruchendur with his family on Saturday. He fainted while waiting in the `Rs 100 darshan queue for 40-45 minutes with his relatives on Sunday noon. Tiruchendur GH doctors declared him dead on arrival. He is survived by wife and two daughters. Police sources said the crowd was less during the time of the incident than compared to the morning.
Seeking compensation for the deceased’s family, opposition leader Edappadi K Palaniswami blamed the DMK government and HR&CE Minister P K Sekarbabu for not making efforts to prevent crowding at darshan queues and said they should take full responsibility for the death. In a post on X, he said people had complained about overcrowding at darshan queues when the minister visited the temple last January. “He (Sekarbabu) ignored the feelings and complaints of the devotees by saying ‘they go to Tirupati and wait there for 24 hours,’ and did not take any steps to avoid the crowding, which is the reason for today’s loss of life,” EPS said.