Andhra Pradesh

Five women injured in stampede

GUDIVADA: Five women sustained injuries in a stampede that occurred during distribution of sarees by Sistla Foundation on the occasion of the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi here on Friday.

The foundation, floated by Krishna District Congress Committee vice-president Sistla Ramesh, announced distribution of 15,000 sarees to women and organised the programme at Sri Potti Sriramulu High School ground. While a few sarees were distributed without any trouble in the first one hour, there was soon jostling and a stampede-like situation prevailed when a large number of women, who turned up for the function, got restive on hearing that only a few sarees were left.

In the melee, five women, including a 65-year-old, sustained injuries and were rushed to nearby hospitals. They were later discharged.

The incident drew much criticism, as neither the police nor the organisers learnt any lesson from the stampede and injuries to a few women that occurred last year too on the same day at the same function.

The organisers failed to put in place a fool-proof system to prevent recurrence of the incident.

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