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, June 29, 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 Prativa Das Female (52), Premakanta Mohanty (78) and Basanti Sahu (42), all residents of Khurda district. Their bodies have been sent for postmortem.
Hours after the incident, Odisha Chief Minister expressed deep sorrow and said, “Due to the intense eagerness among devotees to have a glimpse of Mahaprabhu at Sharadhabali, an unfortunate incident occurred because of the resulting jostling and chaos. Personally, I and my government seek forgiveness from all Jagannath devotees.”
