Odisha Rath Yatra stampede: 3 dead, 50 injured near Puri’s Gundicha temple

What was meant to be a grand celebration of faith turned sorrowful in Puri, Odisha, when a stampede near the Sri Gundicha Temple during the famed Rath Yatra left three devotees dead and around 50 others injured. The incident happened in the early hours of Sunday, sometime between 4 and 4:30 am, when a huge wave of pilgrims pushed forward for an early glimpse of the deities, causing a sudden crush in front of the temple.

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The annual chariot festival draws lakhs of devotees who gather to see Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Goddess Subhadra on their majestic chariots. The atmosphere was buzzing with chants and prayers when things spiralled out of control. In the surge, many people fell to the ground and were unable to get back up in the chaos.

District Collector Siddharth S. Swain confirmed that rescue teams and ambulances reached the spot quickly and rushed the injured to the district hospital. Six people are reported to be battling for their lives. The deceased were identified as Basanti Sahu from Bolagarh and Premakant Mohanty and Pravati Das from Balipatna in Khurda district. Officials have arranged for postmortem examinations of the bodies.

Meanwhile, local police and the district administration have started an inquiry to understand what triggered the sudden stampede and whether enough precautions were in place to handle such a massive turnout. Authorities had estimated that over a million devotees would arrive for this year’s festivities, making crowd control a major challenge.