New Delhi:
Three persons, two of them women, died and 10 others were injured in a stampede during the Rath Yatra in Odisha’s Puri. The incident occurred when the three Raths with idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Shubhadra were near Shree Gundicha Temple, about three kilometres from Jagannath temple, where the Yatra began.
Around 4.30 am this morning, the holy chariots were at the Gundicha temple. A large crowd had gathered for a darshan. As the Raths approached, the crowd swelled, some people fell and a stampede began. Three people died on the spot. These include two women, Prabhati Das and Basanti Sahu, and 70-year-old Premakant Mohanty. All three, it is learnt, are from Odisha’s Khurda district and had come to Puri for the Rath Yatra.
Local media reported that the police’s arrangement for crowd control at the spot was inadequate. The condition of some of those injured is critical, according to reports.
