Three people, including two women, died in a stampede near Sri Gundicha Temple in Puri, Odisha, while 70 people are injured.
Earlier on Friday (June 27), more than 625 devotees fell ill due to increased crowd pressure around the chariot of Goddess Subhadra. According to the administration, 70 people were admitted to the hospital. The condition of 9 of them is said to be critical.
A stampede broke out at around 4 am on Sunday after the Jagannath Rath Yatra.
The accident took place in front of the Gundicha Temple, about 3 km from the Jagannath Temple. A huge crowd had gathered here to see the Nandighosha chariot of Lord Jagannath, during which a stampede broke out, in which many people were crushed by falling.
It is being told that there was not enough police force deployed at the time of the incident. The names of the people killed in the accident are Basanti Sahu (36), Prem Kanti Mahanthy (78) and Prabhati Das. The bodies have been kept in Puri Medical College.
Puri District Magistrate Siddharth S Swain has given this information while talking to journalists.
A day after the completion of the Rath Yatra, a crowd had gathered in Puri early this morning to see the Trimurti (Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra) riding on the chariot, where this accident happened.
Deaths have happened in stampede during Rath Yatra before, but this is the first time that a stampede has occurred after the completion of Rath Yatra. DM Siddharth S Swain said that all the injured are out of danger.
He said, "Between 4 and 5 in the morning, the crowd increased a lot and a stampede occurred. A total of 9 people had trouble breathing and were immediately admitted to the hospital. How the incident happened will be investigated. But at present the administration is insisting on controlling the darshan system."
Odisha CM seeks forgiveness from devotees
Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday sought forgiveness from devotees of Lord Jagannath for the stampede, and tendered an apology on behalf of his government for the incident.
"I and my government seek forgiveness from all Jagannath devotees. We express our condolences to the families of devotees who lost their lives... pray to Mahaprabhu Jagannath to grant them the strength to bear this profound sorrow," Majhi said in a post on X.
Prakash Kumar Pandey