Elderly woman dies in stampede in Andhra Pradesh during a pension camp

Vijayawada: A 65-year-old woman, waiting in the queue to get her name enrolled in the pensioners list at Chittinagar post office pension centre in Vijayawada died after a commotion in the queue led to stampede on Monday morning.

Braving the cold weather, the woman identified as P Shantamma, came to the centre in the wee hours of Monday to enroll her name in the list along with hundreds of senior citizens from the locality.

After elections, pension amount was raised from Rs 200 to Rs 1,000 and as per the practice, all eligible pensioners are provided pension slips at the centre and those who receive the slips are paid the amount in the post office.

There was a ruckus on the spot as everyone tried to get into the centre and in the process, Shantamma fell and received injuries.

She was immediately taken to a Government hospital, where she succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment.

The incident triggered protests and irate locals, other pensioners and CPM city unit blocked the road tunnel road.