One person died and around 100 others were rescued after a temporary crowd surge during the annual Rath Yatra celebrations in Odisha’s Puri on Thursday.
Authorities also confirmed another death during the festival but said it was unrelated to the crowd surge. The person reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest.
Lakhs of devotees gathered in the temple town for the world-famous Rath Yatra. The Pahandi ritual — the ceremonial procession of the sibling deities Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath from the temple to their chariots — was underway when the incident occurred.
Inspector General of Fire Services Umashankar Dash said a heavy rush developed along the Grand Road, or Bada Danda, the ceremonial route on which the three chariots are pulled to the Shree Gundicha Temple.
“So far, we have rescued around 100 people who experienced suffocation in the crowd. They were shifted to temporary medical facilities and ambulances, and their condition has been stabilised,” Dash told reporters.
Health Department officials were yet to issue an official statement on the fatalities and the condition of those affected.
Expressing grief over the incident, Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik said he was saddened by the reported loss of lives at Bada Danda during the Rath Yatra celebrations. “I pray for the eternal peace of the souls of the devotees who have lost their lives and for the swift recovery of the more than a hundred injured devotees,” the former chief minister said in a social media post.
Patnaik, the leader of the opposition, also asked his party men to extend full cooperation to provide assistance to everyone. “I hope that the state government will ensure the convenience and safety of the devotees by properly managing the crowds,” the BJD president said.
Three people were killed, and several others were injured in a stampede near the Gundicha temple, considered the birthplace of the sibling deities, during last year’s Rath Yatra.
