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Four Sabarimala pilgrims die of cardiac arrest

PATHANAMTHITTA: Four pilgrims died of cardiac arrest at Sabarimala on Sunday, raising the toll from cardiac ailments there during the first 14 days of this pilgrim season to 10. Heavy rush continued at Sabarimala for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday, as tens of thousands of people from various parts of the country undertook the pilgrimage during the weekend.

The first cardiac-arrest death was reported from the cardiology centre at Appachimedu at 2.15 p.m. Ayyappa Seva Sanghom volunteers had rushed Govindarajulu (45) of Kuppachi village in Chittur district of Andhra Pradesh to the cardiology centre. The volunteers later shifted the body to Pampa.

P.R. Mohanan Pillai (54) of Pattarumadhom, Balagaramom, Kallarpattom Kalady, Idukki district, was the second casualty. He died at the Government Dispensary at the Sannidhanam at 5 p.m.

Mahi Venkitarao Naidu (52) of Palkonda in Sreekakulam district of Andhra Pradesh also died at the dispensary. Sureshbabu (38) of Shanmugha Mandiram at Kuzhithura in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu was the fourth victim, Thanjavur Damodaran, stretcher service captain of the sanghom, said.

Pilgrims had to wait for hours together in long-winding queues on the trekking path for darshan at the Ayyappa temple on Sunday. The police and National Disaster Response Force had a tough time controlling the crowd.

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