Rath Yatra festival in Puri, Odisha. 
News रेल

3 dead, 50 injured in stampede during Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra in Odisha's Puri

Puri stampede: The incident happened when hundreds of devotees had gathered near the Shree Gundicha Temple for darshan.

JJ News Desk

At least three people died and 50 others were injured in a stampede near Sri Gundicha Temple in Odisha’s Puri during Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra. The incident occurred early Sunday morning, around 4-4.30 am amid heavy crowd.

According to Puri District Collector Siddharth S. Swain, the incident happened when hundreds of devotees had gathered near the Shree Gundicha Temple for darshan. The crowd suddenly surged and created a stampede-like situation.

Emergency services responded quickly and the injured were taken to Puri District Hospital. Six of them are in critical condition.

The deceased have been identified as Basanti Sahu from Bolagarh, Premakant Mohanty and Pravati Das from Balipatna, all residents of Khurda district. Their bodies have been sent for postmortem.

The incident took place near Saradhabali, in front of the temple, where Lord Jagannath was seated on the chariot. The crowd became uncontrollable during the darshan, and in the chaos, several people fell and were trampled.

Authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the incident. “We are looking into what triggered the rush and whether there were any lapses in crowd control,” said an official.

An estimated one million devotees participated in the annual Rath Yatra as the grand chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra were pulled through the streets of Puri. The deities are taken to the Gundicha Temple, where they stay for a week before returning to the Jagannath Temple.

Earlier, on Saturday, Sanjay Kumar, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), Odisha, had also said that they expect around 10 to 12 lakh devotees to gather in Puri.

Source: India Today

Stay connected to Jaano Junction on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Koo. Listen to our Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Harihar Kshetra Sonepur Fair Faces Indefinite Closure as Villagers and Shopkeepers Protest License Delay

India strongly condemns civillian deaths in Israel-Hamas conflict, says PM Modi

Renewed drilling begins to rescue 40 men trapped in Indian tunnel for fifth day

'Uncontrolled Re-entry': Part of Chandrayaan-3's Launch Vehicle Enters Earth's Atmosphere, Says ISRO

Uttar Pradesh: Five Arrested for Gang Rape of Employee at Agra Homestay