3 Dead, Several Injured In Stampede During Puri Rath Yatra; CM Offers Apology

A stampede was reported on Sunday morning during the Rath Yatra in Puri, Odisha, in which three people were killed including two women and several others injured near the Gundicha Temple.

“When this incident happened, no one responded, neither the fire officials, nor the rescue team, nor the hospital team. This is a pathetic incident that cannot be expressed,” a man who lost his wife in the stampede said, ANI reported. 

Swadhin Kumar Panda, a resident of Puri said, “I was there near the temple till 2-3 am last night, but the management was not good. A new way was made for VIPs, and common people were asked to exit from a distance. People started exiting from the entrance itself, which increased the crowd. The traffic system was also not good, as many vehicles with unauthorised passes came near the temple.”

“The administration did not control the crowd properly. The biggest problem was the exit gate. Many people died on the day of the Rath Yatra too, but the government and administration did not disclose it and said that there were no casualties. Today, three people have died – two women, one man. The Odisha administration is responsible for this. There was no police, administration there at night,” Panda added.

During the Rath Yatra, three grand chariots carrying the idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Goddess Subhadra are pulled by thousands of devotees from the Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple. The deities stay there for a week before making their return journey.

This year, the annual Rath Yatra in Puri began on Friday and will conclude on July 1, when the chariots of Lord Jagannath and his two siblings are brought back to the Jagannath Temple.

Odisha Chief Minister expressed apologies over the incident that happened at Sharadhabali with Jagannath devotees. “I and my government seek forgiveness from all Jagannath devotees. We express our condolences to the families of those devotees whose lives were extinguished at Sharadhabali and pray to Mahaprabhu Jagannath to grant them the strength to bear this profound sorrow,” he said in a post on X.