Jagannath Rath Yatra / Stampede near Gundicha temple during Jagannath Rath Yatra, 3 dead, 6 in critical condition

Jagannath Rath Yatra: A tragic incident took place on Sunday morning during the Jagannath Rath Yatra held in Puri, Odisha. Due to the huge crowd of devotees and the disorganized crowd control system, a stampede occurred in front of the Sri Gundicha temple, in which three people died and about 50 others were injured. The incident happened around 4:30 am, when thousands of devotees had gathered to have darshan of Lord Jagannath.

Cause of stampede: Crowd, truck and chaos

Eyewitnesses of the incident said that a huge crowd had already gathered and at the same time the attempt of two trucks to enter that crowd worsened the situation. Narrow space, lack of adequate police force and palm logs scattered around the chariots made the situation more complicated. In the sudden stampede, many devotees fell on the ground and were injured by being crushed.

Identification of the dead and condition of the seriously injured

Puri District Collector Siddharth S. Swain confirmed that the deceased have been identified as Basanti Sahu (Bolagarh), Premkant Mohanty and Pravati Das (Balipatna). The injured were immediately admitted to the district hospital with the help of 108 ambulance service. The condition of six people is said to be critical.

Health emergency had also come to the fore a day earlier

The incident happened a day after the health emergency in which about 750 devotees fainted due to heat, exhaustion and crowd. Of these, 230 were sent to the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) and 520 others to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH). A serious patient has been referred to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.

Rath Yatra: Festival of faith, but security remains a challenge

Jagannath Rath Yatra is one of the most grand and crowded religious pilgrimages in India, in which Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are seated in grand chariots and taken from Srimandir to Sri Gundicha Temple. Every year lakhs of devotees reach Puri to be a part of this Yatra.

Government's response: High level investigation ordered

The Odisha government has taken the accident seriously and has ordered a high level investigation. State Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan expressed deep sorrow over the accident and said, "The death of three devotees is very sad. We will identify the culprits and take strict action against them."

Lessons for the future

This tragic accident has once again raised serious questions on crowd management and disaster response system. It is the need of the hour to further strengthen the security and medical system during such large religious gatherings in religious and tourist centers like Puri.