Puri (Odisha) [India], June 29 (ANI): At least three people have reportedly died in a stampede during the Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri, Odisha on Sunday.
According to Odisha local media reports, several people have also sustained injuries and further details are awaited in the incident that took place this morning near the Gundicha Temple.
Visuals from the postmortem centre in Puri showed families of victims gathered outside the facility.
A man who lost his wife in the stampede said, “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…”
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…”
On the third day of the Jagannath Rath Yatra, devotees from across the world thronged in large numbers to witness and be a part of the famed Yatra.
During Rath Yatra, three grand chariots with the idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Shubhadra are drawn by a crowd of devotees from the Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple. The three deities spend a week before returning to the Lord Jagannath Temple.
The annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath commenced on Friday in Puri.
The Yatra will conclude on July 1, with the chariots Lord Jagannath and his two sibilings returning to the Jagannath temple. (ANI)
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