Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India], May 2 (ANI): The Leader of Opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council, Botcha Satyanarayana, has demanded a judicial inquiry into the wall collapse incident, which led to the deaths of seven to eight people at the Simhachalam temple in the state.

YSRCP leader alleged that the TDP government's negligence led to the loss of the lives of the devotees.

'The tragedy that happened yesterday is very sad. The failure of the government is the reason for the tragic death of seven people. The attention shown on the publicity hype was not shown on the safety of the devotees,' Satyanarayana said.

'They did not think about how many devotees would come, how to make arrangements, how to regulate the rush of devotees, or take better measures than the arrangements made in the past,' he added.

He said that as soon as the news of the accident in which seven people died came to light, former CM and YSRCP president YS Jagan rushed to Visakhapatnam and visited the families of the victims and the injured.

'Those in responsible positions, like the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, did not respond to this incident. But as the leader of the opposition, YS Jagan acted responsibly. He visited the victims' families and gave them self-confidence,' he added.

Seven to eight devotees lost their lives and several others suffered injuries after a wall collapsed at the Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple in Simhachalam during the annual Chandanotsavam festival in the early hours of Wednesday.

CM Chandrababu Naidu announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 25 lakh each to the families of the deceased & Rs 3 lakh will be paid as assistance to those who are injured.PM Modi also announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs. 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of each deceased and Rs. 50,000 for the injured. (ANI)