India, Nov. 2 -- A day after at least 10 people were killed in a stampede at Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh, 95-year-old man who built the temple said that he did not expect so many people would visit the site. Media reports quoted 95-year-old Harimukund Panda saying that the temple never witnessed a crowd of this magnitude in the past.

Preliminary reports also suggested that a crowd surge on the occasion of Ekadashi led to the stampede, while Andhra minister Nara Lokesh also cited an "unknown amount of rush" and "a lot of suffocation" as the reason for the stampede at Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Andhra Pradesh.

The minister said that the temple had both entry and exit gates; however, due to the rush, the entry point was closed,...